apes marine biomes

freshwater biomes

categorized by streams and rivers, lakes and ponds, or freshwater wetlands

rapids

turbulent water stretches where water and air mix together (allows for atmospheric oxygen to dissolve)

littoral zone

shallow zone of soil and water in lakes and ponds near the shore where most algae and emergent plants such as cattails grow

limnetic zone

zone of open water in lakes and ponds as deep as the sunlight can penetrate

phytoplankton

floating algae

profundal zone

region of water where sunlight doesn’t reach, below the limnetic zone in very deep lakes

benthic zone

muddy bottom of a lake, pond, or ocean beneath the limnetic and profundal zones

oligotrophic

describes a lake with a low level of phytoplankton due to low amounts of nutrients in the water

mesotrophic

describes a lake with a moderate level of fertility

eutrophic

describes a lake with a high level of fertility

freshwater wetland

aquatic biomes that are submerged or saturated by water for at least part of each year, but shallow enough to support emergent vegetation (supports species of plants that are specialized to live in submerged or saturated soils)

• swamps (wetlands with emergent trees), marshes (wetlands with mostly nonwoody vegetation like cattails and sedges), bogs (highly acidic wetlands with moss and spruce trees)

• most productive biome, very important (filter pollutants like excess nutrients/nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers), reduce flooding, recharge ground with clean water)

estuaries

areas along the coast where fresh water of rivers mixes with salt water from the ocean

• very productive for plant and algae, helps filter contaminants

salt marshes

found along the coast in temperate climates, a ____ containing nonwoody emergent vegetation

mangrove swamps

a swamp that occurs along tropical and subtropical coasts, and contains salt-tolerant trees with roots submerged in water

• are salt tolerant. found in estuaries or shallow coasts without fresh water (prevent erosion and storm dmg)

intertidal zone

narrow band of coastline that exists between the levels of high tide and low tide

coral reefs

Earth’s most diverse marine biome, found in warm, shallow waters beyond the shoreline in tropical regions

coral bleaching

phenomenon in which algae inside corals die, causing the corals to turn white

open ocean

deep-ocean water, located away from the shoreline were sunlight can no longer reach the ocean bottom

photic zone

upper layer of ocean water in the ocean that receives enough sunlight for photosynthesis

aphotic zone

deeper layer of ocean water that lacks sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis

chemosynthesis

process used by some bacteria to generate energy with methane and hydrogen sulfide (in photic zone