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Community Structure > Aquatic Biomes > Flashcards

Aquatic Biomes Flashcards

1
Q

what are the two major categories of aquatic biomes?

A

-marine ecosystems
-freshwater ecosystems.

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2
Q

what is a marine ecosystem?

A
  • saltwater
  • open-water
  • coastal
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3
Q

what is a freshwater ecosystem?

A

lotic – flowing water (rivers and streams)
lentic – nonflowing water (ponds, lakes, wetlands)

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4
Q

lentic

A

nonflowing water (ponds, lakes, wetlands)

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5
Q

logic

A

flowing water (rivers and streams)

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6
Q

describe the hydrological cycle

A
  • Water that evaporates from oceans and terrestrial environments falls as precipitation.
  • Precipitation on land follows a path determined by geomorphology, flowing from streams to rivers.
  • may collect in basins or floodplains to form ponds, lakes, inland waterways
  • Rivers eventually flow to estuaries, the transition between freshwater and marine ecosystems, and then to the oceans
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7
Q

what are wetlands?

A

areas where aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems meet.

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8
Q

describe the environment of a wetland

A
  • They can be saturated or flooded and include marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens.
  • They are home to many different types of organisms, from aquatic insect larvae to large birds.
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9
Q

what are the three topographic situations of a wetland?

A

Basin wetlands, Riverine wetlands, and Fringe wetlands.

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10
Q

what is a basin wetland?

A

develop in shallow basins, from upland depressions to filled-in lakes and ponds – water flow is vertical

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11
Q

what is a riverine wetland?

A

develop along shallow and periodically flooded banks of rivers and streams – water flow is unidirectional

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12
Q

what is a fringe wetland?

A

occur along the coasts of large lakes – water flow is in two directions

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13
Q

what do topographic situations transport?

A

nutrients and sediments in and out

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14
Q

where do wetlands receive their water?

A

receive most of their water from surface water, but some are fed by groundwater.

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15
Q

what are the nutrients like in wetlands?

A

Nutrients are plentiful and the pH is usually neutral leading to an abundance of plant and animal life.

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16
Q

what are the two primary categories of wetlands?

A
  • Tidal wetlands
  • Non-tidal wetlands
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17
Q

what are marshes?

A
  • Wetlands frequently or continually inundated with water, characterized by emergent soft-stemmed vegetation adapted to saturated soil conditions
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18
Q

what are swamps?

A

any wetland dominated by woody plants

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19
Q

how is a swamp characterized?

A

saturated soils during the growing season, and standing water during certain times of the year

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20
Q

describe the soil of a swamp

A

The highly organic soils of swamps form a thick, black, nutrient-rich environment for the growth of water-tolerant trees

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21
Q

mangrove wetland

A
  • Found in tropical and subtropical regions – covers 60% of the coastlines in the tropical regions
  • Develop where wave action is absent
  • Have mud and anaerobic sediments accumulate
  • Are colonized by salt-tolerant woody plants called mangroves
22
Q

describe the mangrove plant

A
  • Seeds germinate while attached to parent plant
  • Drop to water and float upright until deposited in shallow water
  • Have prop roots weakly penetrating mud
  • Easily damaged by storms
23
Q

what are fens

A
  • Are freshwater peat-forming wetlands covered mostly by
    grasses, sedges, reeds, and wildflowers.
  • Typically receive water from groundwater.
  • Characterized by accumulation of organic materials.
24
Q

what are bogs?

A
  • Are freshwater wetlands, often formed in old glacial lakes, characterized by spongy peat deposits, evergreen trees and shrubs, and a floor covered by a thick carpet of sphagnum moss.
  • Also characterized by accumulation of organic materials.
25
Q

what are estuaries?

A

partially enclosed bodies of water where saltwater from the sea mixes with freshwater from rivers, streams and creeks as well as runoff and groundwater.

26
Q

how are estuaries protected from the full force of ocean waves, winds, and storms?

A

landforms as barrier islands or peninsulas.

27
Q

what is the salinity like for estuaries?

A

The salinity of these areas can vary greatly.

28
Q

describe life in an estuary

A
  • They are crucial feeding and resting areas for many
    types of migratory water fowl and waders.
  • High diversity with nursery grounds for fish and crustaceans
  • Primary production is mostly via detrital food webs
29
Q

Aquatic biomes occupy the largest part of the biosphere

A
  • Marine biomes – salt concentration of approximately 3%.
  • Freshwater biomes - salt concentration of less than 1% and are closely linked to the soils and biotic components of the terrestrial biomes that they are in contact with.
30
Q

what are the three layers?

A

Epilimnion, thermocline, and hypolimnion

31
Q

Epilimnion:

A

upper layer, which is warmed by the sun and mixed well by wind

32
Q

Hypolimnion

A

A cool layer too far below the surface to be warmed or mixed

33
Q

Thermocline

A

A transition zone between the two other layers

34
Q

photic zone

A

zone through which light penetrates and photosynthesis can occur.

35
Q

aphotic zone

A

where very little light reaches and usually no photosynthesis occurs.

36
Q

the littoral zone

A

shallow and close to shore shore to depth where rooted plants stop growing.
* Defined by where light reaches the bottom
* Most diversity of living organisms here

37
Q

limnetic zone

A

open sunlit surface water past littoral zone; depth goes to where photosynthesis is insignificant .
* Phytoplankton & zooplankton dominate

38
Q

The profundal zone

A

all open water from limnetic zone to depth of no photosynthesis.
* Detritus fuels communities of bacterial decomposers.

39
Q

The benthic zone

A

the region near the bottom and comprised of organic debris settling down from the littoral and limnetic zones.
Little oxygen present and it is dominated by anaerobic bacteria.
* “Muck” is rich in organic matter.

40
Q

Oligotrophic lakes

A
  • nutrient-poor
  • tend to be deep (low surface to volume ratio)
  • Lots of different species but not each one not very abundant
  • The largest freshwater species richness in the world is found in oligotrophic lakes!
  • nutrient-poor conditions result in low production of organic material for decomposers
41
Q

Mesotrophic lakes

A

have a moderate amount of nutrients and phytoplankton productivity.

42
Q

Eutrophic lakes

A

shallower (high surface to volume ratio) and have increased nutrients.
* Generally surrounded by nutrient-rich deciduous forests * Life is more abundant but often less diverse
* Often high in nitrogen and phosphorus

43
Q

Oligotrophic lakes may become mesotrophic and eventually eutrophic as nutrients accumulate

A

brought in by runoff from the surrounding land surface.

44
Q

Streams and rivers

A

bodies of water moving continuously in one direction.

45
Q

Headwaters

A

Cold and clear and carry little sediment and relatively few mineral nutrients.
* may be small, straight and swift

46
Q

As the stream travels down

A

the water picks up oxygen and nutrients on the way.

47
Q

When the gradient is less steep downstream

A

velocity decreases and the stream begins to meander and deposit sediment.

48
Q

Nutrients fail to accumulate

A

phytoplankton fail to bloom due to flowing water

49
Q

Current thoroughly mixes water, providing a well-aerated regime.

A

Therefore, animals are not well adapted to low oxygen environments, and are particularly susceptible to oxygen-reducing pollution (e.g., sewage)

50
Q

what is the difference between the littoral zone and photic zone?

A

Community Structure (13 decks)

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