Part 2: Plant Terms Flashcards
What are barrier island dynamics and how does it relate to Sandy Hook?
- Are long, narrow, offshore deposits of sand or sediment that run parallel to the coastline. They are separated from the main land by a shallow sound, bay, or lagoon and are often found in chains along the East Coast
- They are the first line of defense from ocean waves and storm surge
What is a longshore current?
It is an ocean current that moves parallel to shore. It is caused by swells sweeping into the shoreline at an angle and pushing water down the length of the beach in one direction. Longs-shore currents usually extend from the shallow waters inside the breaking waves to the outside breakers.
What is a primary dune?
The primary dunes are important to barrier islands as protection against flood tides and storm surges. These natural barriers are held together by the plant life that lives on them. Similar to the upper beach, the primary dunes offer harsh living conditions. Strong winds, salt spray, low moisture retainment, shifting sand and blazing sun, make this desert area like . Many of the plants living on the primary dunes have developed adaptations similar to those of desert flora.
What is a secondary dune?
Backdunes and secondary dunes generally support a wider variety of vegetation than do foredunes. Additionally, the same species that grow as low shrubs or stunted trees on dune crests, grow in backdune areas as well; though in these more protected locales, they are often able to attain full height. Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), live oak (Quercus virginiana), and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia stricta), are all common inhabitants of backdunes and secondary dunes.
What is salt spray?
Salt spray is created when waves break on the beach, throwing tiny droplets of salty water into the air. On-shore breezes blow this salt laden air landward where it comes in contact with plant foliage. The amount of salt spray plants receive varies depending on their proximity to the beachfront, creating different vegetation zones as one gets further away from the beachfront.
What is maritime forest?
Is an ocean coastal wooded habitat found on higher ground than dune areas within range of salt spray. They can be found along the Atlantic and Pacific Northwest coasts of the United States.
What is zonation?
Describes the natural layering of ecosystems at different altitudes that occurs at distinct altitudes due to varying environmental conditions. Temperature, humidity, soil composition, and solar radiation are important factors in determining zones, which consequently support different vegetation and animal species.
What is a high marsh?
Is a tidal marsh zone located above the Mean Highwater Mark (MHW) which, in contrast to the low marsh zone, is flooded infrequently during periods of extreme high tide and storm surge associated with coastal storms.
What is a low marsh?
Is a tidal marsh zone. It is characterized as being flooded daily. The water of the low marsh is shallow, silt laden, salty, and warm. These factors decrease the water’s capacity to hold dissolved oxygen.
What is a tidal creek?
The portion of a stream that is affected by ebb and flow of ocean tides, in the case that the subject stream discharges to an ocean, sea or strait. Thus this portion of the stream has variable salinity and electrical conductivity over the tidal cycle.
What is sedimentation?
Is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them: these forces can be due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration or electromagnetism.
What is anoxis/anaerobia?
Are areas of sea water, fresh water or groundwater that are depleted of dissolved oxygen and are a more severe condition of hypoxia. The US Geological Survey defines anoxic waters as those with dissolved oxygen concentration of less than .5 milligrams per litre.
What is a halophyte?
A plant adapted to growing in saline conditions, as in a salt marsh.
What is a succulent?
They are plants that are more than normally thickened to retain water.
What are ecosystem services?
Is any positive benefit that wildlife or ecosystems provides to people. The benefits can be direct or indirect – small or large.
What are serotinous cones?
Serotinous cones are covered with a resin that must be melled for the cone to open and release seeds. When a fire moves through the forest, the cones open and the seeds are distributed by winds and gravity.
What is a Hummock/hollow topography?
A hummock is a small knoll or mound above ground. They are typically less than 15 meters in height and tend to appear in groups or fields.
Describe what epicormic sprouting is
- Sprouting of plants after a fire
- Australia have extensive epicormic buds which sprout following a fire, allowing the vegetative regeneration of branches from their trunks.
- These epicormic buds are highly protected, set deeper beneath the thick bark than in other tree species, allowing both the buds and vascular cambium to be insulated from the intense heat.
