Name: __________________________________ Period: ____________________ Date: _____________

APES Study Guide- Aquatic Ecosystems

Vocabulary
Understand and be able to apply each of these terms. 1. Salinity Saltiness or dissolved salt content 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 . They provide a crucial source of food to many large aquatic organisms. 3. Nekton It refers to the aggregate of actively swimming aquatic organisms in a body of water able to move independently of water currents. 4. Benthos Community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as benthic zone. 5. Littoral Zone Part of sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. It extends from the high water mark to shoreline areas. Littoral zone often can extend well beyond the intertical zone. 6. Benthic Zone The ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. Organisms living in this zone are called benthos. They generally live with substrate bottom. 7. Eutrophication Ecosystem response to the addition of artificial or natural substances such as nutrates and phosphates. 8. River Source/Course Upriver refers to the direction leading to the source of the river, which is against the direction of the flow. Downriver describes the direction towards the mouth of the river, in which the current flows. 9. River Mouth A part of a stream where it flows into another stream, river, lake, sea, etc. At the mouth of river a delta can form causing sediment pileup. 10. Marsh Type of wetland that is dominated by herbaceous, rushes, grasses, or reeds rather than woody plant species. At the edges of lakes and streams, where marshes form a transition between the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem. 11. Swamp Wetland that is forested. Most of them occur along large rivers. But some occur on the shores of large lakes. Large river are where theyre critically dependent upon natural water level fluctuations. 12. Bog Bog is one of 4 main types of wetland that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material. It occurs where the water at the ground surface is acidic and flow in nutrients. 13. Lagoon- A shallow body of water separated from a large body of water by barrier

islands or reefs. They are commonly divided into coastal lagoons and atoll lagoons. 14. Estuary Areas where the fresh water and saltwater mix. Estuaries form a transition zone between river 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. 15. Abundance An extremely plentiful or over sufficient quantity or supply. 16. Diversity The condition of having or being composed of differing elements. 17. Watershed Watershed carries water shed from the land after rainfalls and snow melts. 18. Hydrophytes- Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or aquatic macrophytes. These plants submerges in water, or at the waters surface.

Halophytes- A plant that grows in water of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as 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? Limit the damaging effects of waves, convey, and store floodwater. Trap sediments Reduce pollution.

2. What causes high and low tides? Explain. High and low tides are caused by combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth.

3. Where would you find an estuary? What type of organisms would you expect to find there? Id find an estuary in the mangrove estuaries. Fish, shellfish, migratory birds, mud and blue crab, seahorses, sea turtles are animals Is expect to find there.

4. What is the definition of freshwater?

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?

6. Name 2 types of fish that can live in low oxygen environments:

7. Explain why reefs are so important to preserve. What are some of the dangers to coral reefs? Name 2.

8. There are different types of marine reef environments. Define the following: a. Fringing Reefs: A reef system that grows fairly close to the shore, with an entirely shallow lagoon or none at all. b. Barrier Reefs: A reef system that parallel the shore and is separate from it by a wide lagoon that contains at least come deep portions. c. Atolls: A roughly circular ( annular ) oceanic reef system surrounding a central lagoon. d. Coral Reefs: 9. Draw a diagram of a marine environment and define the following:

a. Intertidal: Denoting the sea of a seashore that is covered at high tide and uncovered at low tide. b. Pelagic: Relating to the open ocean. c. Abyssal: Relating to or denoting the depths or bad of the ocean.

Benthic: Relating to or happening on the bottom under a body of water.What is winterkill in a lake? What happens? During the winter, O2 normally enters the water of a frozen lake through the inlet water streams, cracks in the ice and slow diffusion through the ice. A thick snow cover on a lake can reduce the amount of O2 passing through the ice.

10. 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?

11. Explain how lakes turn-over yearly and what this process causes. Name one positive and one negative aspect of turn-over.

12. Draw a diagram of a lake and define the following: a. Littoral Zone: The region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean. b. Limnetic Zone: The open surface waters in a lake, away from the shore. c. Profundal Zone: The deep zone of an an inland body of freestanding water, such as a lake or pond, locate below the range of effective light penetration.

13. Complete this summary table of aquatic ecosystems:

Location

Physical Characteristics

Coral Reef

Sandy Beach

Mangrove Swamp

Salt Marsh

Mudflat

Rocky Shore

Climatograph
Use the data provided to construct a climatograph. Temperature should be displayed as a line graph and precipitation as a bar graph. Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Precipitation (cm) 10 3 2 5 13 9 2 2 2 8 18 7 Temperature (C) 35 37 39 40 42 44 45 44 42 40 37 35

What type of biome do you believe this is? Give specific observations from your graph to justify this

answer.