Unit 3

Question 1

abiotic

Answer 1

nonliving

Question 2

benthic community

Answer 2

those creatures without spines that live on the floor of the ocean

Question 3

biotic

Answer 3

living

Question 4

brackish

Answer 4

a blend of salt and fresh water

Question 5

ecosystem

Answer 5

a community of interacting organisms and their environment

Question 6

estuary

Answer 6

the place where a river empties into an ocean

Question 7

food chain

Answer 7

a system in which each organism is dependent on the next as a food source

Question 8

inertia

Answer 8

the tendency of matter to move in a straight line or stay as it is

Question 9

invasive species

Answer 9

a species that is not part of the original ecosystem, but has made its way into it, usually by human means

Question 10

intertidal zone

Answer 10

the section between the highest and lowest tide

Question 11

primary succession

Answer 11

a region’s original ecosystem

Question 12

salinity

Answer 12

the amount of salt

Question 13

sediment

Answer 13

matter such as stone or sand carried by or into water

Question 14

secondary succession

Answer 14

the recreation of an ecosystem that has been devastated

Question 15

succession

Answer 15

the order that a species naturally enters an ecosystem

Question 16

symbiotic relationship

Answer 16

a relationship that benefits both organisms involved and harms neither

Question 17

tidal currents

Answer 17

tides that create currents along the coast in bays or estuaries

Question 18

tide

Answer 18

a short-term surface change in the height of the ocean at a particular place

Question 19

upwelling

Answer 19

the result of heavy winds pushing surface water, causing the colder, nutrient-rich waters at the bottom to move toward the surface