APES Chapter 6 Vocab

form in clear, warm coastal waters of the tropics and subtropics. Marine equivalents of tropical rain forests.

Weakly swimming, free-floating organisms/ producers that support most aquatic food chains and food webs

primary consumers (herbivores) that feed on phytoplankton and secondary consumers that feed on other zooplankton. Range from single celled protozoa to large invertebrates like jellyfish

Extremely small photosynthetic bacteria responsible for 70% of the primary productivity near the ocean surface

• Strongly swimming consumers such as fish, turtles, and
• whales

Bottom dwellers such as barnacles and oysters that anchor themselves to one spot, worms that burrow into sand or mud, and lobsters and crabs that walk about on the bottom

Break down organic compounds in the dead bodies and wasters of aquatic organisms into simple nutrient compounds for use by aquatic producers

upper layer sunlight can penetrate

Warm, nutrient-rich, shallow water that extends from the high-tide mark on land to the gently sloping, shallow edge of the continental shelf. Human activities easily affect it. Contains 90% of all marine species and is the site of most large commercial marine fisheries.

land areas covered with water all or part of the year (river mouths, inlets, bays, sounds, sat marshes (in temperate zones), and mangrove forests (tropical zones)

Euphotic, Bathyal, Abyssal

The area of shoreline between low and high tides

Deep water consisting of euphotic (brightly lit upper zone where floating and drifting plankton carry on photosynthesis, low nutrient levels, high dissolved oxygen levels, large predatory fish), bathyal zone (dimly lit middle zone that does not contain photosynthesizing producers because of lack of sunlight, zoo plankton and smaller fish the migrate to feed on surface at night), abyssal zone (dark, very cold, little dissolved oxygen, enough nutrients)

standing bodies of freshwater

Flowing bodies of freshwater

large natural bodies of standing freshwater formed when precipitation, runoff, and groundwater seepage fill depressions in the earth’s surface.

Littoral, limnetic,profundal, benthic

poorly nourished (deep and has steepbanks) (newly formed with small supply of plant nutrien

Large supply of nutrients (mostly nitratesand phosphates) needed by producers

Human inputs of nutrients fromatmosphere and from nearby urban andagricultural areas accelerate eutrophication of lakes

In between oligotrophic and eutrophic

Precipitation that does not sink into the ground or evaporate

Surface water flows into streams

land area that delivers runoff,sediment, and dissolved substances to a stream

Source Zone (Highest),Transition Zone (middle), Floodplain Zone (end)

lands covered with freshwater all or partof the time and located away from coastal areas (marshes, swamps, prairiepotholes)

Warm, nutrient-rich, shallow waterthat extends from the high-tide mark on land to the gently sloping, shallowedge of the continental shelf. Human activities easily affect it. Contains 90%of all marine species and is the site of most large commercial marinefisheries.