C4 & C5 Flashcards
The _____is where the land and sea meet, between the high and low tide zones.
intertidal area (also called the littoral zone)
A ___ is an intertidal area that consists of___ rocks; it is often a___ rich environment
and can include many different habitat types like (4)
rocky shore;
solid;
biologically;
steep rocky cliffs, platforms, rock pools and boulder fields.
Because of the continuously action of the tides, it is characterized by erosional features. Together with the wind, sunlight and other physical factors ti creates a complex environment.
rocky shore
Organisms that live in this area experience daily fluctuations in their environment. For this reason, they must be able to tolerate extreme changes ni temperature, salinity, moisture and wave action to survive.
rocky shore
____ is an angiosperm (flowering plant) that lives in a marine or brackish environment.
Sea grass
There are about 50 species of true sea grasses worldwide that are found within the plant families (4)
Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae, and Cymodoceaceae.
____ are sometimes found in patches, but these patches can expand to form huge ____ or _____
Sea grasses;
sea grass beds, or meadows.
____ are found in protected coastal waters such as bays, lagoons, and estuaries and in both___ and____ regions.
Sea grasses
temperate and tropical
Sea grasses are___ plants and reproduce by___ and producing seeds. ____ are classified as protists (which also include protozoans, prokaryotes, fungi and sponges), are relatively simple and reproduce using ___.
vascular; flowering;
Marine algae; spores
Sea grasses provide: (3)
Productivity and Shelter;
Sediment Stabilization;
Water Clarity
____ to sea grasses include storms, climate changes such as floods and droughts affecting water salinity, disruption of sea grasses by small predators as they search for food, and grazing by animals such as sea turtles and manatees.
Natural threats
____ to sea grasses include dredging, boating, water quality degradation due to run-off, and shading of sea grasses by docks and boat
Human threats
Large wave resistant structures have accumulated from the slow growth of___. The development of these structures is aided by___ that are symbiotic with reef-building corals, known as-__.
corals;
algae;
zooxanthellae
___,____, and other organisms, combined with a number of____ processes also contribute to reef growth.
Coralline algae; sponges;
cementation
The dominant organisms are known as____, because they provide the matrix for the growing reef.
framework builders,
Corals and coralline algae precipitate ____, whereas the framework- building sponges may also precipitate____.
calcium carbonate;
silica
Most of these organisms (corals) are___, and the slow process of___ moves the living surface layer of the reef ___ and ____.
colonial;
precipitation;
upward and seaward
of all ocean habitats,___ seem to have the greatest development of complex symbiotic associations.
(coral) reefs
Coral reefs are ___, ___, ___ocean habitats that are rich in life. The reefs massive structure is formed from ____, tiny animals that live in colonies that when they die, they leave behind a hard, stony, branching structure made of____.
warm, clear, shallow;
coral polyps;
limestone
Coral reefs develop in ___, ___ water, usually near___, and mostly in the___; coral prefer temperatures between ___ and ___
shallow, warm ;
land;
tropics;
70 and 85 ° F (21 - 30 °C).
TYPES OF CORALS (2)
hard and soft coral
__corals (like__ coral and __coral) have hard,___ skeletons which form the basis of coral reefs.
Hard;
brain and elk horn;
limestone
The ___ Reef (off the coast of ____) is the largest coral reef in the world. It is over ____long.
Great Barrier; NE Australia;
1,257 miles (2000 km)
Types of Reefs (3)
Fringing reefs;
Barrier reefs;
Coral Atolls
are reefs that form along a coastline. They grow on the
continental shelf in shallow water
Fringing reefs
are reefs that grow parallel to shorelines, but farther out, usually separated from the land by a deep lagoon.
Barrier reefs
are rings of coral that grow on top of old, sunken volcanoes in the ocean. They begin as___ reefs surrounding a volcanic island; then, as the volcano sinks, the reef continues to grow, and eventually only the reef remains.
Coral Atolls ;
fringe;
Major threats to coral reefs are: (4)
-water pollution (from sewage and agricultural runoff),
-dredging of the coast,
-careless collecting of coral specimens, and
-sedimentation (when silt or sand from construction or mining projects muddies the waters of a reef and kills coral, which needs light to live).