PPt.6: Aquatic Ecosystems Unit 1

Question 1

Shallow well-lit areas where vegetation stops growing

Answer 1

Littoral Zone

Question 2

Open sunlit waters beyond the littoral, photosynthesis is no longer significant

• Dominated by photosynthetic phytoplankton
• forms base of the food chain

Answer 2

Limnetic Zone

Question 3

Deep open water below the depth of effective light penetration

Answer 3

Profundal Zone

Question 4

Bottoms of lakes and ponds, contain sediments rich in organic matter

Answer 4

Benthic Zone

Question 5

Between bottom floor and layer below, characterized by steep temperature gradient

Answer 5

Thermocline

Question 6

Nutrients are brought up from the bottom sediments, prompting blooms of phytoplankton growth

Answer 6

Fall/Spring Turnover

Question 7

Lakes rich in nutrients

Answer 7

Eutrophic

Question 8

Nutrient poor, clear, cold and deep, little plant growth

Answer 8

Oligotrophic

Question 9

The process of lakes over time becoming nutrient richer

Answer 9

Eutrophication

Question 10

Human caused, can lead to fish dying

-dissolved oxygen causes dead zones and fish die

Answer 10

Cultural Eutrophication

Question 11

An area that is regularly wet or flooded and has a water table that stands at or above the land surface for at least part of the year

Answer 11

Wetland

Question 12

Develop in shallow basins ranging from upland depressions to filled in lakes and ponds

Answer 12

Basin Wetlands

Question 13

River bottoms, along shallow and periodically flooded banks

Answer 13

Riverine Wetlands

Question 14

Wetlands dominated by emergent herbaceous vegetation

Answer 14

Marshes

Question 15

Dominated by woody vegetation (trees)

Answer 15

Swamps

Question 16

3 values of wetlands

Answer 16

1) Providing overflow areas for flood control
2) Serving as nurseries and prime habitat for fish, waterfowl and wildlife
3) Cleaning and filtering water, removing sediments, nutrients and even toxins

Question 17

Whole body of water

Answer 17

Pelagic Region

Question 18

Bring nutrients to surface areas

Answer 18

Upwelling Currents

Question 19

Partly enclosed coastal ecosystems, that occur where the oceans meet the land
-saltwater mixes with freshwater

Answer 19

Estuaries

Question 20

Form on the alluvial plains around the margins of estuaries or in the shelter of offshore islands and sandbars

Answer 20

Salt marshes

Question 21

formed by deposit of river sediments

Answer 21

alluvial

Question 22

Dominated by salt-tolerant, woody plants characterized by shallow, widely spreading roots

Answer 22

Mangrove Swamps

Question 23

Made by activities of tiny colonial animals

Answer 23

Coral Reefs

Question 24

Live within the cells of coral polyps

-carryout photosynthesis and directly transfer organic material to coral tissue

Answer 24

Zooxanthellae

Question 25

Coral Bleaching

Answer 25

Coral losing color