Environmental Science Unit 4 Hydrosphere Part 1: Aquatic EcosystemsStudy Guide

  1. Plankton are (highlight all that apply): the bottom of the food chainangler fish photosynthetic larvae heterotrophs provide 50% of the O2 we breath everyday good swimmers diatoms
  2. Light, DO, pressure, nutrients are abiotic limiting factors because they can limit the growth of a population.
  3. Marine snow is high in nutrients and found mostly on the bottom of the ocean, but also in other pelagic layers.
  4. Barnacles, oysters, and other bottom-feeders are considered benthos.
  5. Estuaries are where rivers meet the sea. Organisms that liver here must adapt to tides as well as varying levels of salinity.
  6. Oligotrophic describes low concentration of nutrients.
  7. High oxygen levels & fast swimming organisms are found in the euphotic zone
  8. Bacteria & other decomposers can kill organisms in eutrophic lakes by decreasing oxygen levels
  9. The process of ocean acidification occurs when anthropogenic CO2dissolves in the ocean making carbonic acid. This lowers the pH.
  10. Limiting factors limit the size of a population. Examples of limiting factors include temperature, light, oxygen, nutrients, and turbidity.
  11. Turbidity refers to cloudiness.
  12. The amount of dissolved salts in the water is known as salinity.
  13. Matching

C Fiddler Crab

D Krill

E Angler fish

B Shark

A Coral

14.

Name of Organism / Method of Movement / Major Group
Free swimmer / Drifts in currents / Bottom dweller / Plankton / Nekton / Benthos
Coral / X / X
Krill / X / X
Yellow Fin Tuna / X / X
Diatoms / X / X
Crabs / X / X
Anglerfish / X / X

15. Coral are composed of these two organisms: zooxanthelle algae & polyp

16. A major dead zone occurs in the U.S. when run off rich in nitrogen & phosphorous flows into the Mississippi river and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Zone / Description (O2, Types of Organisms, sunlight, etc.)
Intertidal / ex. wetlands, estuaries Area between the high and low tide lines, sometimes submerged, sometimes in air, also referred to as littoral
Neritic / ex. coral reef
Located from the low tide line to the edge of the continental shelf, most sea life is located here
Euphotic / well lit, photosynthetic zone, high O2, low pressure, krill, whales, turtles
Bathyal / dim, little to no photosynthesis occurs, higher pressure, cool to cold, squid, octopus, anglerfish
Abyssal / dark, cold, very high pressure, hydrothermal vent communities, angler fish

17.

Also OA (ocean acidification)

zooxanthellae

And…

Services of a wetland include: storm buffer, controls flooding, absorbs pollutants, & provides habitat

Services of the ocean include: recreation, food source, moderates climate, & absorbs CO2