Topic 32 Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Topic 32 Deck (47)
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1
Q

Total amount of water on Earth can be constant for

A

millennia

2
Q

Aquatic biomes connected through the ..

A

hydrologic cycle

3
Q

Aquatic biomes could equally be defined by their..

A

flora and fauna

4
Q

Aquatic biomes mainly based on physical characters

A
  • velocity
  • temp
  • clarity
  • chemistry
5
Q

Rivers and streams

A

freshwater, lotic, plants and animals must be adapted to withstand current (firmly rooted, hide in less turbulent zones by debris on river bottom) drain landscapes into oceans,

6
Q

Lotic

A

water flows through the system

7
Q

Flow rate is an important determinant of..

A

communities this biome can support

8
Q

Streams organized into orders..

A

two first order streams connect to make a second order stream, the nile is a 6th order lactic system (leads to differences ins species composition)

9
Q

Riparian zone

A

transition between rivers edge and surround land

10
Q

River collects..

A

run off, sediment and detritus from surrounding land. also accumulate pollutants and toxins leached from surround lands

11
Q

Lakes and ponds

A

typically freshwater. lentic. collections of water is natural depressions in the landscape. depending on depth can be thermally stratified (lake baikal) some are highly saline (great salt lake 10x ocean)

12
Q

Lentic

A

water is stationary (non flowing)

13
Q

Photic zone

A

depth to which light can penetrate and support plant life.

14
Q

Littoral zone

A

shallow waters at shore

15
Q

Limnetic zone

A

deep waters where light still penetrates

16
Q

Profundal zone

A

deep waters where light doesn’t penetrate

17
Q

Benthic zone

A

lake floor

18
Q

Primary production of lakes and ponds can be determined by

A

color of lake. green is high, blue is low.

19
Q

Eutrophication

A

addition of nutrients supports massive algal blooms, severely reducing dissolved oxygen concentrations and drastically altering lake communities

20
Q

Wetlands

A

lotic systems formed from shallower depressions. transient moisture levels (high rate of succession) low levels of decomposition due to low oxygen.

21
Q

Function of wetlands

A

liver of the ecosystem (filter toxins and pollutants from surrounding land) natural flood plains.

22
Q

Wetlands were historically drained to..

A

produce agriculture land, this practice was responsible for the extirpation of malaria, vectoring mosquitoes form North America

23
Q

Marshes

A

dominated by herbaceous plants, important breeding grounds for water fowl.

24
Q

Swamps

A

dominated by woody plants, on every continent besides antarctica

25
Q

Bogs

A

Secluded to northern regions, floating mats of sphagnum moss, “peatlands”

26
Q

Estuaries

A

vertical gradients of salinity where ocean water sinks below incoming freshwater flowing from rivers. gradual slope of landscape buffers incoming tides. ultimate aquatic edge habitat (high diversity). often destroyed for coastal development

27
Q

Rocky intertidal zones

A

on sloping rock shores between average low and high tide levels. dominated by algal and invertebrates species that can adhere to substrate and survive periods of desiccation

28
Q

Kelp forests

A

found along temperate coasts, form an underwater “forest like” ecosystem.

29
Q

Coral reefs

A

tropical coasts (where water is roughly 18 C) similar to underwater rainforest ecosystem but supports even higher levels of diversity

30
Q

3 types of coral reefs

A
  • fringing
  • barrier
  • atolls
31
Q

Fringing

A

on rocky substrate near coastline

32
Q

Barrier

A

separated from coast by lagoon

33
Q

Atolls

A

independent islands

34
Q

Variations in temp of coral reefs can lead to..

A

expulsion of symbiotic zooxanthellae and “bleaching”

35
Q

Marine environment is characterized by…

A

salinity, waves, tides, depth and vastness

36
Q

70% of the earths surface is covered by ..

A

the oceans and at its deepest point the ocean is 10 km

37
Q

Similar to lakes and pond oceans undergo thermal stratification w presence of a thermocline..

A
  • photic zone
  • middle zones
  • bottom benthic zone
38
Q

The rain of organic material of the photic zone supports..

A

lower strata

39
Q

Open ocean thought of as a ..

A

desert like wasteland (only 1% of harvest fish stocks come form open ocean)

40
Q

Open ocean

A

all primary production comes form phytoplankton (algae, dinoflagellates, diatoms). some floating islands of Sargassum seaweed from discreet communities in the open ocean

41
Q

Pelagic

A

living in the water column

42
Q

Open ocean divided by depth

A
  • epipelagic zone (200m)
  • mesopelagic zone (200-1000m)
  • bathypelagic (1000-4000m)
  • abyssal (4000-6000m)
  • hadal (below 6000m)
43
Q

Garbage island

A

great pacific garbage patch, predicted in 1988 by NOAA. discovered in 1997. forms from gathering of debris in ocean gyre funnelling it into the centre.

44
Q

Garbage island consists of

A

plastics, chemical sludge, and debris. estimated range from 700,000 to 15, 000, 000 km 2

45
Q

Hydrothermal vent communities

A

largest unexplored area on earth, recently discovered on ocean floor. adapt to extreme temp (heat from vents but otherwise temp is 0) and primary production from chemosynthesis, utilizing sulphur in place of oxygen and thermal energy from vents

46
Q

In reality to the ocean supports far more ..

A

phyla of animals than then terrestrial environment

47
Q

Deep sea species adapt to..

A

life under significant pressure.