Marine Bio Final Flashcards
The lower limit of the intertidal zone is the:
C)lowest tide
The particular characteristic most widely used in classifying intertidal communities:
C) type of substrate
Regarding the origin of rocky coasts, it is known that this type of shore is present along:
A) geologically young coasts
The sessile epifauna consists of:
E) attached animals
Many rocky-shore animals cope with desiccation by
B) crowding in areas that are always moist
Which type of shell would be most suited to live on a rocky shore that’s exposed @ low tide?
D) white, rigid
Most sessile animals living on rocky shores are
D) Filter feeders
One of these organisms is expected to be relatively rare on a rocky shore:
E) deposit feeder
If a rocky shore highly exposed to a wave action is compared to a similar rocky shore that’s a lot less exposed to wave action, we should expect that barnacles living on the more exposed shore show a:
A) wider vertical distribution
The reason why rocky shores have a few deposit feeders:
B) high wave action
Refraction causes waves to
C) become more parallel to the shore
One of these is more important than the others as a limiting resource in intertidal communities
A) Space
Vertical zonation on rocky shores is mostly the result of differences in tolerance to
B) exposure
The upper limit of rocky intertidal communities is typically determined by:
B) Physical factors only
One organism typical of the upper intertidal on rocky shores:
E) periwinkles
The middle intertidal is characterized by:
D) exposure and immersion on a regular basis
An example of a keystone predator on rocky shores:
C) sea stars
Predation by sea stars on rocky shores ultimately results in:
E) more species
Ecological succession ultimately results in:
A) a climax community
In addition to space, another factor that’s typically limiting in the lower intertidal along rocky shores:
B) grazing
One of these organisms is typically a very rare component of soft-bottom intertidal communities:
C) seaweeds
Most animals living on sandy beaches are included among the:
A) infauna
Fine sediments are characteristic of
D) calm, less exposed shores
In terms of oxygen, the interstitial water in muddy bottoms:
D) is deficient in it
The main source of food in intertidal communities
B) detritus
Coastal plain estuaries were formed when:
B) the ocean invaded lowlands and river mouths
Good examples of bar-built estuaries are found here:
C) Atlantic coast of the US
Fjords are formed as a result of the
E) raising of sea level
In an estuary, salinity of the water increases as:
E) depth increases
The salt wedge of an estuary:
A) moves inland as tide moves in
Tidal bores in estuaries result from the effect of:
C) High tides moving in
The most common type of substrate in estuaries:
A) mud
The amount of hydrogen sulfide in the sediment increases as the following factors increase except one:
A) oxygen
Euryhaline species:
D) can survive changes in salinity
Osmoconformers survive changes in salinity by:
D) allowing the salinity of their body fluids to vary with that of the surrounding water
Salmon, which migrate b/t the sea & rivers are an example of
E) osmoregulators
The most important difference between muddy intertidal shores and the mud flats of the estuaries:
variation in salinity
An example of a primary producer on mud flats:
A) Benthic diatoms
An example of a deposit feeder on mud flats:
C) clams
The most abundant type of mud-flat organisms:
D) infauna
Succulents are plants that:
C) accumulate water in their tissues
The infauna of mud flats feed mostly on
E) detritus
Blood rich in hemoglobin is an adaptation to:
E) low oxygen concentrations
Zonation in an estuary is made evident by:
B) presence of different species along different horizontal levels in relation to tides
The zonation of plants in salt marshes is determined mostly by
C) height of the tide
The food web in salt-marsh communities is characterized by high primary production. Most of this production is made available to other communities in the form of:
C) detritus
The geographical distribution of mangrove forests is mostly determined by
C) temperature
Mangroves belong to one of the following groups:
D) flowering plants
Mangrove forests are considered a stage in the ecological succession b/t marine & terrestrial communities due to the fact that they:
A) accumulate sediment in their roots
Outwelling in estuaries is most important since it:
D) provides food and nutrients to other communities
Reef building corals are cnidarians that are characterized by:
E) having only a polyp stage
Hermatypic corals are those that
D) have zooxanthellae
“Planula” is the name given to
D) coral larvae
Zooxanthellae are essential to reef-building corals b/c they:
E) help in the deposition of the skeleton
The mesenteric filaments of corals are important b/c they:
A) secrete digestive enzymes
Sources of food and other essential nutrients for corals include all of the following except:
B) calcium carbonate from shells
The most important organisms that help form coral reefs, other than reef- building corals, are:
D) coralline algae
Practically all of the sediment that accumulates in a coral reef is of what type?
C) biogeneous
Reef-building corals grow only in shallow water b/c:
B) Zooxanthellae need light for photosynthesis
The expulsion of zooxanthellae due to unfavorable conditions is called:
C) bleaching
Eutrophication is very detrimental to the development of coral since it increases:
A) the amount of nutrients in the water, hence increasing stimulating the overgrowth of algae
The most common type of coral reefs around the world
E) fringing
In a typical fringing reef, most of the live coral is found on the:
C) reef crest
Fringing & barrier reefs develop
C) along a coast
Generally, 1 important distinction b/t barrier & fringing reefs is that barrier reefs:
B) develop farther away from land
Spur-&-groove formations, or buttresses, appear to be the result of:
E) wind and waves
Most atolls are found in the:
A) Indo-west Pacific region
Atolls actually start as a:
A) fringing reef
Aside from zooxanthellae, what is the other important primary producer in a coral reef
turf algae
Primary production is very high in coral reefs but low in surrounding waters. One reason for this is that:
C) Nutrients are efficiently recycled
Reef corals compete with soft corals for space. One competitive advantage of soft corals is their:
B) toxic chemicals
The recruitment of coral reef fishes seems to be the result of one of these phenomena:
B) each species has its own ecological niche but it’s modified to avoid direct competition
The sweeper tentacles of corals contain:
B) nematocysts
Obligate symbionts are those organisms that:
C) are found only in association with another species
Giant clams are very large in size b/c of their ability to
E) have zooxanthellae
The epipelagic is divided into 2 components: the oceanic waters and the:
B) neritic zone
