APES Study Guide- Aquatic Ecosystems
Vocabulary
Understand and be able to apply each of these terms.
1. Salinity – The saltiness or dissolved salt content (such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates) of a body of water or in soil.
2. Plankton – Any organisms that live in the water column and are incapable of swimming against a
current.
3. Nekton –Nekton refers to the aggregate of actively swimming aquatic organisms in a body of water (usually oceans or lakes) able to move independently of water currents.
4. Benthos –The community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic
zone.
5. Littoral Zone –The part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore.
6. Benthic Zone –The ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean or a lake,
including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers.
7. Eutrophication – The ecosystem response to the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system.
8. River Source –The term upriver refers to the direction leading to the source of the river, which is against the direction of flow.
9. River Course –The term downriver describes the direction towards the mouth of the river, in which the current flows.
10.River Mouth –A part of a stream where it flows into another stream, river, lake, reservoir, sea, or ocean.
11. Marsh –A type of wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.
12. Swamp –A wetland that is forested.
13.Bog –A wetland that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material.
14. Lagoon- A shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by barrier islands or reefs.
15. Estuary –Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and ocean environments and are subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of fresh water and sediment.
16. Abundance –An extremely plentiful or over sufficient quantity or supply.
17. Diversity –The condition of having or being composed of differing elements .
18. Watershed -A watershed carries water "shed" from the land after rain falls and snow melts.
19. Hydrophytes- Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments(saltwater or freshwater).
20. Halophytes- A plant that grows in waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores.
Critical Thinking
Read, analyze, and give complete answers to these questions.
1. What are the three important benefits (ecosystem service) provided by wetlands?
Wetlands offer an important benefit of flood protection where they act like giant sponges and absorb flood water arising from extreme weather conditions. Coastal wetlands also provide extra protection from floods.
2. What causes high and low tides? Explain.
The high and low tide are caused by the gravitational forces between the earth and the moon. However, the source of the real effect takes some explaining to grasp. The incorrect way of thinking is that the moon attracts all the water to itself, therefore causing a high tide on the side of earth close to the moon, and a low tide on the side far from the moon. However, if this was the case, there would be a high tide once per day.
3. Where would you find an estuary? What type of organisms would you expect to find there?
Mangrove estuaries are best examples.estuaries are biomes where freshwater and salty water meets.
4. What is the definition of “freshwater”?
Freshwater is defined as having a low salt concentration — usually less than 1%. Plants and animals in freshwater regions are adjusted to the low salt content and would not be able to survive in areas of high salt concentration (i.e., ocean).
5. The mouth of a river can sometimes become “murky” because of all of the sediments that are washed
downstream. Name 3 problems are caused by “murkiness”?
An atmosphere in which visibility is reduced because of a cloud of some substance.
6. Name 2 types of fish that can live in low oxygen environments:
The Betta is that type of fish that can live in low oxygen environment, another one is Deep-sea fish are fish that live in the darkness below the sunlit surface waters, that is below the epipelagic or photic zone of the ocean.
8. There are different types of marine reef environments. Define the following:
a. Fringing Reefs: A fringing reef is one of the three main types of coral reefs recognized by most coral reef scientists.
b. Barrier Reefs: A barrier reef is a reef which lies parallel to, or near, a coastline, but separated from the coastline by a region of water too deep for coral to grow.
c. Atolls: A ring-shaped coral reef including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.
d. Coral Reefs: Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients.
9. Draw a diagram of a marine environment and define the following:
a. Intertidal: the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide.
b. Pelagic: a term that refers to a part of the sea or ocean, that is not near the shore nor near the bottom.
c.Abyssal: pertaining to the biogeographic zone of the ocean bottombetween the bathyal and hadal zones: from depths ofapproximately 13,000 to 21,000 feet.
d. Benthic:
10. What is “winterkill” in a lake? What happens?
A condition where fish suffocate when the amount of oxygen under the ice is too low. Water kept open by aeration may keep waterfowl in an area that has limited food resources, causing them to be in poor egg-laying condition in the spring. It canalso lead to changes in migration
patterns and routes.
11. Describe the differences in the types of food webs found in the two ocean light zones, euphotic and
aphotic. Where does the initial energy input for each come from?
Euphotic is the part of the ocean that sunlight is received. For aphotic is part of the ocean where sunlight does not reach preventing photosynthesis. Creates its food from moleculesand the heat and sunlight.
12. Explain how lakes “turn-over” yearly and what this process causes. Name one positive and one negative aspect of turn-over.
Lake turn-over is the process of a lake's water turning over from top (epilimnion) to bottom (hypolimnion). During the summer, the epilimnion, or surface layer, is the warmest. It is heated by the sun. The deepest layer, the hypolimnion, is the coldest. The sun's radiation does not reach this cold, dark layer. Positive aspect of turn over is the water didn't get to cold, negative is temperature of the water will change.
13. Draw a diagram of a lake and define the following:
a. Littoral Zone: The part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore.
b. Limnetic Zone: the well lit, open surface waters in a lake, away from the shore.
c. Profundal Zone: a deep zone of an inland body of freestanding water, such as a lake or pond, located below the range of effective light penetration.
14.Complete this summary table of aquatic ecosystems:
Location Physical Characteristics
Coral Reef Great Barrier Reef in Australia Colors come from their natural pigments.
Sandy Beach Coastlines of islands Mostly sand are warm.
Mangrove Swamp tropical and subtropical tidal areas Soft, muddy, little waves
Salt Marsh southern United States Water can be very salty to fresh.
Mudflat near salt marshes “drained" and "filled"
Rock Shore Coastline where solid rock is dominate Rocks, waves, and easilyaccessible
Vocabulary
Understand and be able to apply each of these terms.
1. Salinity – The saltiness or dissolved salt content (such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates) of a body of water or in soil.
2. Plankton – Any organisms that live in the water column and are incapable of swimming against a
current.
3. Nekton –Nekton refers to the aggregate of actively swimming aquatic organisms in a body of water (usually oceans or lakes) able to move independently of water currents.
4. Benthos –The community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic
zone.
5. Littoral Zone –The part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore.
6. Benthic Zone –The ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean or a lake,
including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers.
7. Eutrophication – The ecosystem response to the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system.
8. River Source –The term upriver refers to the direction leading to the source of the river, which is against the direction of flow.
9. River Course –The term downriver describes the direction towards the mouth of the river, in which the current flows.
10.River Mouth –A part of a stream where it flows into another stream, river, lake, reservoir, sea, or ocean.
11. Marsh –A type of wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.
12. Swamp –A wetland that is forested.
13.Bog –A wetland that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material.
14. Lagoon- A shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by barrier islands or reefs.
15. Estuary –Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and ocean environments and are subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of fresh water and sediment.
16. Abundance –An extremely plentiful or over sufficient quantity or supply.
17. Diversity –The condition of having or being composed of differing elements .
18. Watershed -A watershed carries water "shed" from the land after rain falls and snow melts.
19. Hydrophytes- Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments(saltwater or freshwater).
20. Halophytes- A plant that grows in waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores.
Critical Thinking
Read, analyze, and give complete answers to these questions.
1. What are the three important benefits (ecosystem service) provided by wetlands?
Wetlands offer an important benefit of flood protection where they act like giant sponges and absorb flood water arising from extreme weather conditions. Coastal wetlands also provide extra protection from floods.
2. What causes high and low tides? Explain.
The high and low tide are caused by the gravitational forces between the earth and the moon. However, the source of the real effect takes some explaining to grasp. The incorrect way of thinking is that the moon attracts all the water to itself, therefore causing a high tide on the side of earth close to the moon, and a low tide on the side far from the moon. However, if this was the case, there would be a high tide once per day.
3. Where would you find an estuary? What type of organisms would you expect to find there?
Mangrove estuaries are best examples.estuaries are biomes where freshwater and salty water meets.
4. What is the definition of “freshwater”?
Freshwater is defined as having a low salt concentration — usually less than 1%. Plants and animals in freshwater regions are adjusted to the low salt content and would not be able to survive in areas of high salt concentration (i.e., ocean).
5. The mouth of a river can sometimes become “murky” because of all of the sediments that are washed
downstream. Name 3 problems are caused by “murkiness”?
An atmosphere in which visibility is reduced because of a cloud of some substance.
6. Name 2 types of fish that can live in low oxygen environments:
The Betta is that type of fish that can live in low oxygen environment, another one is Deep-sea fish are fish that live in the darkness below the sunlit surface waters, that is below the epipelagic or photic zone of the ocean.
8. There are different types of marine reef environments. Define the following:
a. Fringing Reefs: A fringing reef is one of the three main types of coral reefs recognized by most coral reef scientists.
b. Barrier Reefs: A barrier reef is a reef which lies parallel to, or near, a coastline, but separated from the coastline by a region of water too deep for coral to grow.
c. Atolls: A ring-shaped coral reef including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.
d. Coral Reefs: Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients.
9. Draw a diagram of a marine environment and define the following:
a. Intertidal: the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide.
b. Pelagic: a term that refers to a part of the sea or ocean, that is not near the shore nor near the bottom.
c.Abyssal: pertaining to the biogeographic zone of the ocean bottombetween the bathyal and hadal zones: from depths ofapproximately 13,000 to 21,000 feet.
d. Benthic:
10. What is “winterkill” in a lake? What happens?
A condition where fish suffocate when the amount of oxygen under the ice is too low. Water kept open by aeration may keep waterfowl in an area that has limited food resources, causing them to be in poor egg-laying condition in the spring. It canalso lead to changes in migration
patterns and routes.
11. Describe the differences in the types of food webs found in the two ocean light zones, euphotic and
aphotic. Where does the initial energy input for each come from?
Euphotic is the part of the ocean that sunlight is received. For aphotic is part of the ocean where sunlight does not reach preventing photosynthesis. Creates its food from moleculesand the heat and sunlight.
12. Explain how lakes “turn-over” yearly and what this process causes. Name one positive and one negative aspect of turn-over.
Lake turn-over is the process of a lake's water turning over from top (epilimnion) to bottom (hypolimnion). During the summer, the epilimnion, or surface layer, is the warmest. It is heated by the sun. The deepest layer, the hypolimnion, is the coldest. The sun's radiation does not reach this cold, dark layer. Positive aspect of turn over is the water didn't get to cold, negative is temperature of the water will change.
13. Draw a diagram of a lake and define the following:
a. Littoral Zone: The part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore.
b. Limnetic Zone: the well lit, open surface waters in a lake, away from the shore.
c. Profundal Zone: a deep zone of an inland body of freestanding water, such as a lake or pond, located below the range of effective light penetration.
14.Complete this summary table of aquatic ecosystems:
Location Physical Characteristics
Coral Reef Great Barrier Reef in Australia Colors come from their natural pigments.
Sandy Beach Coastlines of islands Mostly sand are warm.
Mangrove Swamp tropical and subtropical tidal areas Soft, muddy, little waves
Salt Marsh southern United States Water can be very salty to fresh.
Mudflat near salt marshes “drained" and "filled"
Rock Shore Coastline where solid rock is dominate Rocks, waves, and easilyaccessible