Freshwater Ecology Exam 1 Flashcards
1
Q
limnology
A
the study of lentic systems
2
Q
freshwater
A
watre without salt
3
Q
lentic
A
standing water such as lakes or ponds
4
Q
lotic
A
moving water such as streams or rivers
5
Q
withdrawal
A
freshwater taken from ground or surface water sources, either permanently or temporarily, and conveyed to a place of use
6
Q
Residence time
A
the amount of time a given amount of water spends in a system of water
7
Q
Groundwater
A
water that comes from the ground, usually in soil or in pores and crevices or rocks
8
Q
applied limnology
A
attempts to predict how aquatic system will respond to various uses, deals with multi use aquatic systema and large bodies of water with economic use
9
Q
covalent bond
A
between H and O; sharing electrons
10
Q
hydrogen bond
A
O atoms have a slight (1) negative charge and H atoms have a slight (+) charge; very cohesive, very stable environment
11
Q
density
A
mass per unit of volume
12
Q
cohesion
A
waters tendency to stick to itself
13
Q
Adhesion
A
waters ability to stick to other polarized surfaces
14
Q
Adsorption
A
the process of binding or sticking to a surface
15
Q
Viscosity
A
resistance to flow
16
Q
Specific heat
A
amount of heat needed to make 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius
17
Q
latent heat of vaporization
A
amount of energy it takes to turn matter into its gas form; high for water due to amount of H bonds
18
Q
latent heat of sublimation
A
temp it takes to turn solid directly into a gas
19
Q
latent heat of fusion
A
temp required to turn ice into water
20
Q
Dielectric constant
A
a measure of the ability of a substance to store electric energy in an electrical field, high in water, makes water a good solvent for salts
21
Q
surface tension
A
where water meets air, what causes it to resist a force
22
Q
endorheic lake
A
a closed lake with no outflow
23
Q
exorheic lake
A
an open basin lake with outflow via stream or seepage
24
Q
kettle lakes
A
a lake formed by the melting of a detached piece of glacial ice, common on nutrient rich soil, productive lakes
25
ice scour lake
type of lake formed on area of land gouged by glacial movement, typically nutrient poor, most abundant type of lake
26
cirque lake
type of lake formed in mountain bowl from melting mountain glacier
27
tectonic lake
type of lake formed where land has warped due to tectonic activity, largest freshwater lakes are this type
28
Coastal lake
lake formed along the coast where a spit or bar has built up, most remain brackish, may become freshwater by flushing from inflowing streams
29
riverine lake
lake that gets cut off from a rivers active flow, common on lower latitudes, "oxbow" "billabong"
30
volcanic lake
lake formed in a volcanic crater after an eruption or due to lava dam in river
31
Karst lake
type of lake formed in basin of highly soluable rock
32
Man-made lake
lake created by human activity
33
beaver lake
beavers create dames the create lakes
34
POM
Particulate organic matter
35
DOM
Dissolved organic matter
36
Photic zone
the upper layer of water where light is sufficiently available to enable photosynthesis
37
Aphotic zone
the portion of the water column without sufficient light for photosynthesis
38
Compensation depth
the point of equilibrium for respiration and photosynthesis
39
Turbidity
how much POM is in water
40
light attenuation
the reduction in intensity of the light beam with respect to distance travelled through a transmission medium; how far light can travel through the water
41
Hypoxia
low levels of oxygen in water so that it cannot support life
42
anoxia
lakes that have no oxygen or extremely low levels
43
Light extinction
the point at which light disappears all together
44
oligotrophic
low levels of nutrients in lakes
45
mesotrophic
moderate levels of nutrient sin lakes
46
eutrophic
high levels of nutrients in lakes
47
cultural eutrophication
eutrophication caused by human activity such as farming fertilizers, sewage, build up of chemicals, seepage
48
productivity
how well a lake can maintain life
49
littoral zone
the area of a lake that supports plant life
50
pelagic zone
water that is not a part of the bottom or the top region of the water column
51
Epilimnion
upper layer of water on surface, often turbulent, in contact with atmosphere primary production dominates here due to available light
52
metalimnion
transtion zone between upper and lower layers, temperature radient, thermocline
53
hypolimnion
lower layer of water deeps zone, nonturbulent/sable, seperated from contact with the atmosphere, repsiration dominates and is reliant upon organic matter from the surface
54
thermocline
region that contains rapid change in temperature between layers
55
thermocline depth
the depth of the water column at which the thermocline begins
56
stratification
sorting of lakes water into distinct layers due to difference in temperature and density
57
turnover
mixing of the stratified water column
58
lake mixing
mixing of temperature within the water column
59
Amictic lake
a lake that is pemanantly covered in ice such that the water does not mix through the column
60
col monomictic lake
a lake that has a ice cover for most of the year but melts enough so that it has a single mixing in the summer
61
cold polymicitic lake
a lake with multiple period of mixing, ice covered part of the year
62
warm polymicitic lake
a lake with no ice over any time, stratification may occur daily or for a few days followed y a turnover
63
dimicitic lake
a lake with ice cover during part of the year and stably stratified during other parts of the year, the great lakes, two period of mixing
64
warm monomictic lake
a lake with o ice cover but a single stratification during the warmest part of the year and mixing throughout the rest
65
Holomictic lake
lake in which mixing occurs all the way to the bottom of the lake
66
Meromicitic lake
a lake with layers but they do not mix
67
fetch
the distance wind can travel on a lake uninterrupted
68
ice-out
the melting of ice from te surface of water
69
sediment loading
the amount of sediment passing a point over some time interval
70
water hardness
the measure of mineral content in water
71
pH
the measure of acidity or basicity
72
turbulent flow
type of water movement typically at the lake surface due to action of wind, more intermixing
73
Laminar flow
type of water movement in which water slides over one another
74
surface gravity waves
the typical waves seen on lakes and oceans
75
coriolis effect
the curving of wind or water currents due to the rotational forces of earth
76
depth of frictional resistance
depth at which flow direction is opposite wind direction
77
ekman spiral
a spiraling flow of water from surface to depth of frictional resistance
78
ekman drift
term for the deflected current
79
density current
flow caused by a difference in density between converging layers of water
80
thermal siphon
a thermally driver flow caused bythe shallower, littoral water that cools and siink and is replaced by pelagic water
81
langmuir currents
convergence of spirals currents that result in long parallel lines of foam and seaweed at the lake surface
82
surface seiche
accumulation of water at one end of a lake due to strong winds followed by back flow when wind subsides
83
lotic
flowing water
84
erosional zone
upstream region where sediment is typically eroded due to deep v-shaped valleys, rapids, waterfalls
85
transfer zone
midstream region characterized by transport of recently eroded sediments; characterized by broader valleys and gentler slops
86
depositional zone
downstream region where sediments are deposited due to slow flowing water, meandering channel, flat alleys, braided channels
87
hyporheic zone
the area under or beside a stream channel or floodplain the cntributes water to the stream
88
maximum planar width
maximum width of water in a river
89
river continuum concept
the physical and biological changes of a river as it it increases in size
90
Wolman pebble count
a guide used to find the average substrate size in a stream or river
91
relevance of substrate
size of substrate determines what type of animals can lives there, it is also dependent on the size and location of the river
92
How to use USGS map viewer
can be sued to find stream order under he hydrocached view of map to see the different types and sizes of waterways
93
discharge
volume of water in cubic feet per second
94
laminar/baseflow
water underneath the surface
95
stream velocity
speed and direction the water is flowing in
96
hydrograph
continual reading of discharge over time
97
flashy streams
streams that are prone to flash flooding
98
perennial stream
stream that is active throughout the whole year
99
intermittent stream
stream that is prone to dry period at some point in the year
100
fluvial geomorphology
the study of river channels and drainage networks and their interaction with landforms
101
thalweg
the deepest part of a streamwithin the active flow
102
riffle
area of a stream characterized by the shallow, turbulent, fsat-moving water, typically over gravel cobble substrate, some rocks break surface
103
run
are of stream between riffle and pool; water surface usually appears non-turbulent, water movemeny is perceptible but not as fast as siffle
104
pool
deep area along side of stream; water movement is very slow and imperceptible, under girded by small sediments
105
bankful stage
the stage at which the river contains its maximum volume of water within the banks prior to flooding
106
sinuosity
the measure of a rivers tendency to meander; increases in lowland areas and higher orders
107
alluvium
paticles that have been transported by a stream
108
colluvium
particles that have been transported by slopes
109
aggradation
increase insubstrate within an area of the stram
110
degradation
decrease of substrate within an area of a stream
111
stream compatence
a measure of the largest particle size that can be moved along the stream bed at some level of flow
112
bed load
the movement of particles along the stream bed
113
interdisciplinary nature of limnology
studies with focuses in ecology, chemistry, physic, geology, engineering
114
usefulness of limnology
recreation, consumption, curiosity, preservation fro pollution, ecosystem services
115
role of scale in research
study as a unit vs. an assemble of parts; no best scale; can be carried out in a whole or in parts
116
distribution of water on earth
only 2.6% is freshwater only .3%is available to humans (97.4% is saltwater)
117
distribution of freshwater on earth
99.7% is in glacial, ice caps, and groundwater; .3% is available to humans
118
where most research has been conducted
in lakes near university and earlier in lakes that were clean and pretty, mainly in north temperate zones zone
119
Uniqueness of water being more dense as a liquid than a solid
this is due to the hydrogen bonds in the h2o
120
relationship between surface area and evaporation
a larger surface area will cause a faster rate of evaporation
121
relationship between watershed area and slope
runoff will flow faster into a lake with a greater slope
122
areas that are likely to contribute to lake sedimentation
areas with asteep slope or with a river running into them, endorheic lakes will be more liekly to be majorly effected by sedimentation
123
influences of turbidity and light
light allows for photosynthesis, influence stratification, turbidity effect how far light can reach
124
why there are different colors for lakes and what causes each
colors are usually dependent of turbidity and algae, minerals, and bacteria within the lake
125
influences on lake stratification and turnover
heat wind and ice cover, sun warms upper layers, wind mixes them, density of water
126
the relationship between water temperature and O2
colder water holds more oxygen
127
4 dimensional nature of rivers
longitudinal (length from upstream to downstream), width (width and interaction with floodplain), vertical (depth of water column nd intrusion into sediment), temporal ( rivers changes over time)
128
"valley rules the stream"
concept that explains that a river is primarily a product of its valley through which it flows rather than merely an innocent passerby
