Aquatic

Question 1

Wetlands

Answer 1

are systems where the soil is saturated with water, often containing standing shallow water.

Question 2

Freshwater marshes

Answer 2

consist of cattails and bulrushes that grow above the water’s surface.

Question 3

Swamps

Answer 3

also contain standing water, but are in forested areas.

Question 4

Bogs

Answer 4

are ponds covered in thick floating mats of vegetation.

Question 5

Vernal pools

Answer 5

that form in the snowmelt of early spring and dry up later in the summer.

Question 6

How does surface water become groundwater?

Answer 6

infiltration

Question 7

How does groundwater become surface water?

Answer 7

Groundwater becomes surface water through springs, keeping rivers flowing and wetlands moist even in dry conditions.

Question 8

runoff

Answer 8

Water that falls from the sky or melts from snow or a glacier that flows over a land surface

Question 9

braided river

Answer 9

A river that flows as an interconnected series of water courses

Question 10

Meandering rivers

Answer 10

are found in flatter regions and form larger and larger bends.

Question 11

Oxbow rivers

Answer 11

have the most exaggerated shape. a u

Question 12

floodplain

Answer 12

Frequent flooding and deposition of soil make floodplain soils especially fertile.

Question 13

littoral zone.

Answer 13

Shallow areas along the edges where aquatic plants can grow

Question 14

benthic zone

Answer 14

extends along the bottom

Question 15

limnetic zone

Answer 15

is the upper layer of water that is shallow enough to receive sunlight and allow photosynthesis by phytoplankton.

Question 16

profundal zone

Answer 16

is between the benthic and limnetic zone and lacks photosynthesis.

Question 17

Ponds and lakes can change over time as rivers and streams bring them nutrients.

Answer 17

Oligotrophic lakes and ponds are low in nutrients and high in oxygen.

Question 18

eutrophic

Answer 18

high-nutrient, low-oxygen conditions.

Question 19

Wetlands happened to have?

Answer 19

Wetlands have been heavily impacted by human activities, including draining and filling for agriculture, withdrawing water for irrigation, and construction of dams.

Question 20

Wetlands provide?

Answer 20

Wetlands provide many water-related ecosystem services including slowing runoff, reducing flooding, recharging aquifers, and filtering pollutants.

Question 21

Intertidal ecosystems?

Answer 21

Intertidal ecosystems spread between the uppermost reach of the high tide and lowest limit of the low tide.

Question 22

Tides

Answer 22

are the periodic rising and falling of the ocean’s height at a given location due to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon

Question 23

Salt marshes

Answer 23

occur where the tides wash over gently sloping sandy or silty substrates.

Question 24

tidal creeks

Answer 24

Water from rising and falling tides flows in and out of salt marshes through channels

Question 25

Mangroves

Answer 25

are trees that are salt tolerant, with roots that grow upward to gather oxygen and others that grow down to support the treelike stilts.

Question 26

Estuaries

Answer 26

bodies of water where rivers flow into the ocean, mixing saltwater with fresh water.

Question 27

kelp

Answer 27

Along many temperate coasts, large brown algae

Question 28

coral reef

Answer 28

is a mass of calcium carbonate composed of the shells of tiny animals called corals

Question 29

atoll

Answer 29

A ring around a submerged island called an

Question 30

barrier island

Answer 30

paralleling a shoreline

Question 31

They also form symbiotic relationships with algae called _______, which produce food through photosynthesis.

Answer 31

zooxanthellae

Question 32

photic zone

Answer 32

The top layer, contains most of the ocean’s primary productivity.

Question 33

pelagic

Answer 33

Habitats between the ocean surface and floor are called

Question 34

benthic

Answer 34

Habitats on the ocean floor

Question 35

Ecosystems may also form around hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean as bacteria use _______ to harvest energy from chemicals in the heated water.

Answer 35

chemosynthesis