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What is a coral reef? Discuss the relationship corals and algae have, services reefs provide, and problems affecting coral reefs. Where are coral reefs in Florida found? Why should we care about coral reefs?
- -Formation produced by massive colonies containing billions of tiny coral animals, called polyps that secrete a stony substance (calcium carbonate) around themselves for protection.
- -Algae provide the polyps with food and oxygen through photosynthesis and help produce calcium carbonate which forms coral’s skeleton. Algae gives reefs their stunning coloration and polyps provide algae with a well-protected home and some nutrients.
-They act as natural barriers that help to protect 15% of world’s coastlines from erosion caused by battering waves and storms. They provide habitats for one-quarter of all marine organisms. - -Climate change, increasing acidity of ocean water as it absorbs some carbon dioxide.
- -Clear, warm coastal waters of the tropics and subtropics.
- -The decline and degradation of these colorful oceanic sentinels should serve as a warning about threats to the health of ocean ecosystems, which provide us with crucial ecological and economic services
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Phytoplankton
- -small, drifting plants, mostly algae and bacteria, found in aquatic ecosystems.
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Zooplankton
- animal plankton; small floating herbivores that feed on plant plankton.
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Nekton
-strongly swimming organisms found in aquatic systems.
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Benthos
- bottom-dwelling organisms
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Decomposers
- break down organic compounds in dead bodies and wastes for aquatic organisms into nutrients that aquatic primary producers can use.
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What factors limit life at different depths in aquatic life zones?
- -Temperature, dissolved oxygen content, availability of food and light, and nutrients required for photosynthesis.
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Why are the oceans important?
- Provide enormously valuable ecological and economic services.
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What are the two major life zones of the ocean? Which one contains most species and why?
- - Coastal zone, open sea, and ocean bottom.
- -Coastal zone
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What is an estuary, how are they important, and where is our nearest estuary?
- Rivers meet the sea;partially enclosed bodies of water where seawater mixes with freshwater as well as nutrients and pollutants from streams, rivers, and runoff from the land.
- -Help to maintain water
- quality, provide food/habitats/nursery sites, and reduce storm damage and coastal and erosion.
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Coastal wetland
- -coastal land areas covered with water all or part of the year.
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What are mangroves? What functions do they serve?
- -69 different tree species that can grow in salt water.
- -Obtain oxygen ad support the trees during periods of changing water levels.
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What is the intertidal zone?
-Area of shoreline between low and high tides.
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What are barrier islands and what ecosystem service do they provide?
- -Low, narrow, sandy islands that form offshore, parallel to nearby coastlines.
- -A habitat for species.
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What are the vertical zones of the open sea?
- Euphotic, bathyal, and abyssal zones.
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How have human activities affected marine ecosystems?
- -Coastal development, runoff of nonpoint sources of pollutants, point-source pollution, overfishing, use of fish trawlers, climate change, and invasive species.
- -Coastal development, runoff of non-point sources of pollutants,
- point-source pollution, overfishing, use of fish trawlers, climate change, and invasive species.
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the littoral zone of a freshwater aquatic system
- Top layer; near the shore and consists of the shallow sunlit waters to the depths at which rooted plants stop growing.
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Limnetic zone
- open, sunlight surface layer away from the shore that extends to the depth penetrated by sunlight; main photosynthesis zone.
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Profundal zone
- layer of deep, open water where it is too dark for photosynthesis.
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Benthic zone
-bottom layer; inhabited mostly by decomposers, detritus feeders, and some fish; nourished mainly by dead matter.
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Oligotrophic lak
- – low supply of plant nutrients
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Eutrophic lake
- – large supply of plant nutrients
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Mesotrophic Lake
- moderate supply of plant nutrients.
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What is a watershed or drainage basin? What watershed do you live in?
- -Land area that delivers water, sediment, and dissolved substances via small streams to a major stream.
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What is the best way to protect a stream or river system from excessive inputs of nutrients and pollutants?
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What are freshwater inland wetlands and name 6 reasons why they are important.
- -Lands located away from coastal areas that are covered with freshwater all part of the time (marshes, swamps, prairie potholes, floodplains, and arctic tundra).
- -Supplying valuable products, help to maintain biodiversity, helping to replenish stream flows during dry periods, reducing flooding and erosion, and degrading toxic wastes and pollutants.
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How do people impact freshwater systems?
- -Dams and canals fragment about 40% of world’s 237 largest rivers, flood control, cities and farms, and drainage or filled to grow crops that have been covered with concrete, asphalt, and buildings.
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