Aquatic Flashcards
Wetlands
are systems where the soil is saturated with water, often containing standing shallow water.
Freshwater marshes
consist of cattails and bulrushes that grow above the water’s surface.
Swamps
also contain standing water, but are in forested areas.
Bogs
are ponds covered in thick floating mats of vegetation.
Vernal pools
that form in the snowmelt of early spring and dry up later in the summer.
How does surface water become groundwater?
infiltration
How does groundwater become surface water?
Groundwater becomes surface water through springs, keeping rivers flowing and wetlands moist even in dry conditions.
runoff
Water that falls from the sky or melts from snow or a glacier that flows over a land surface
braided river
A river that flows as an interconnected series of water courses
Meandering rivers
are found in flatter regions and form larger and larger bends.
Oxbow rivers
have the most exaggerated shape. a u
floodplain
Frequent flooding and deposition of soil make floodplain soils especially fertile.
littoral zone.
Shallow areas along the edges where aquatic plants can grow
benthic zone
extends along the bottom
limnetic zone
is the upper layer of water that is shallow enough to receive sunlight and allow photosynthesis by phytoplankton.
profundal zone
is between the benthic and limnetic zone and lacks photosynthesis.
Ponds and lakes can change over time as rivers and streams bring them nutrients.
Oligotrophic lakes and ponds are low in nutrients and high in oxygen.
eutrophic
high-nutrient, low-oxygen conditions.
Wetlands happened to have?
Wetlands have been heavily impacted by human activities, including draining and filling for agriculture, withdrawing water for irrigation, and construction of dams.
Wetlands provide?
Wetlands provide many water-related ecosystem services including slowing runoff, reducing flooding, recharging aquifers, and filtering pollutants.
Intertidal ecosystems?
Intertidal ecosystems spread between the uppermost reach of the high tide and lowest limit of the low tide.
Tides
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
Salt marshes
occur where the tides wash over gently sloping sandy or silty substrates.
tidal creeks
Water from rising and falling tides flows in and out of salt marshes through channels
Mangroves
are trees that are salt tolerant, with roots that grow upward to gather oxygen and others that grow down to support the treelike stilts.
Estuaries
bodies of water where rivers flow into the ocean, mixing saltwater with fresh water.
kelp
Along many temperate coasts, large brown algae
coral reef
is a mass of calcium carbonate composed of the shells of tiny animals called corals
atoll
A ring around a submerged island called an
barrier island
paralleling a shoreline
They also form symbiotic relationships with algae called _______, which produce food through photosynthesis.
zooxanthellae
photic zone
The top layer, contains most of the ocean’s primary productivity.
pelagic
Habitats between the ocean surface and floor are called
benthic
Habitats on the ocean floor
Ecosystems may also form around hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean as bacteria use _______ to harvest energy from chemicals in the heated water.
chemosynthesis
