chp 7. key terms

Question 1

wetland

Answer 1

land consisting of marshes or swamps; saturated land.

Question 2

plankton

Answer 2

small and microscopic organisms drifting or floating in the sea or fresh 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

near shore area where sunlight penetrates all the way to the sediment and allows aquatic plants (macrophytes) to grow.

Question 6

benthic zone

Answer 6

the lowest ecological zone in a water body,

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

an area of coastal grassland that is regularly flooded by seawater.

Question 10

mangrove swamp

Answer 10

a tree or shrub that grows in chiefly tropical coastal swamps that are flooded at high tide. Mangroves typically have numerous tangled roots above ground and form dense thickets.

Question 11

barrier island

Answer 11

long broad sandy island lying parallel to a shore that is built up by the action of waves, currents, and winds and that protects the shore from the effects of the ocean.

Question 12

coral reef

Answer 12

a ridge of rock in the sea formed by the growth and deposit of coral.