Ch. 7 Key Terms

Question 1

wetland

Answer 1

land consisting of marshes or swamps; saturated land.

Question 2

plankton

Answer 2

the small and microscopic organisms drifting or floating in the sea or fresh water, consisting chiefly of diatoms, protozoans, small crustaceans, and the eggs and larval stages of larger animals. Many animals are adapted to feed on plankton, especially by filtering the water.

Question 3

nekton

Answer 3

aquatic animals that are able to swim and move independently of water currents.

Question 4

benthos

Answer 4

the flora and fauna found on the bottom, or in the bottom sediments, of a sea, lake, or other body of water.

Question 5

littoral zone

Answer 5

The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments, the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged.

Question 6

benthic zone

Answer 6

The benthic zone is one of the ecological regions of a body of water. It comprises the bottom—such as the ocean floor or the bottom of a lake—the sediment surface, and some sub-surface layers. Organisms living in this zone—that is, on or in the bottom of the body of water—are called benthos.

Question 7

eutrophication

Answer 7

excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

Question 8

estuary

Answer 8

the tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream.

Question 9

salt marsh

Answer 9

Salt marshes are coastal wetlands that are flooded and drained by salt water brought in by the tides.

Question 10

mangrove swamp

Answer 10

A mangrove swamp is a distinct saline woodland or shrub land habitat formed by mangrove trees in brackish tidal water. They are characterized by depositional coastal environments, where fine sediments (often with high organic content) collect in areas protected from high-energy wave action.

Question 11

barrier island

Answer 11

Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen.

Question 12

coral reef

Answer 12

Coral reefs are large underwater structures composed of the skeletons of colonial marine invertebrates called coral.