Deep Sea & Opean Ocean
The open ocean zone away from the coast is commonly called this.
What is the pelagic or open ocean (offshore)
The primary animals that build coral reefs are colonial marine invertebrates called this.
What are hard corals.
Rocky shores commonly show distinct bands of organisms along the shore.
What is Zonation?
These coasts are dominated by loose sand and are shaped by waves and this other process that moves sand along the shore.
What is longshore drift (longshore transport)?
Name the oceanic zone that receives enough light for photosynthesis.
What is the photic/epipelagic zone?
Name the photosynthetic symbionts that live in coral tissues and provide energy to corals.
What are zooxanthellae?
Name one physical factor that creates different zones on a rocky shore.
What is tidal exposure, wave action, or substrate? — Physical factors: tidal exposure (emersion/submersion), wave energy, temperature, salinity, substrate type.
Name one common habitat or organism associated with sandy shorelines.
What is dune grasses or ghost crabs? — Examples: dune grasses (e.g., Ammophila), ghost crabs, clams, mole crabs.
Bioluminescence is common in deep-sea organisms. Give one advantage of bioluminescence.
What is attraction, camouflage, or communication?
Give two environmental conditions that favor reef development (e.g., temperature range, light).
What are warm, clear shallow water and stable salinity? — Favoring conditions: warm temperatures (roughly 20–30°C depending on reef), clear shallow water with sufficient light, stable normal marine salinity, and low nutrient levels.
Explain the role of keystone predators (like some sea stars) in maintaining rocky shore biodiversity.
What is keystone predator maintains diversity by controlling dominant competitors? — Keystone predators (e.g., Pisaster sea stars) prey on dominant grazers or competitors; their removal can lead to monopolization by a single species and reduced diversity.
What are the 3 major sand features?
What are sand bars, tombolos, and sand spits?
Describe one adaptation of deep-sea fish to high pressure and low food availability.
What is reduced metabolism, soft bodies, or pressure-resistant proteins? — Adaptations include reduced metabolic rates, elongate or flabby bodies, reduced swim bladders or oil-filled tissues, flexible cell membranes and pressure-tolerant enzymes.
Describe coral bleaching in one sentence and name one major cause. (What is)
What is coral bleaching and increased temperature or stress? — Coral bleaching: loss of symbiotic algae leaving corals pale; major cause: elevated sea temperatures (also pollution, disease, or stress).
Describe two adaptations of intertidal organisms that allow them to survive desiccation and wave action.
What are adaptations like strong attachment and desiccation tolerance? — Examples: strong holdfasts/adhesive foot (limpets, barnacles), thick shells, ability to clamp down, reduced water loss via opercula or mucous, and flexible bodies to withstand waves.
Describe one human activity that accelerates erosion on sandy beaches and one mitigation practice.
What is human activity like coastal development and mitigation like beach nourishment? — Human activities: beachfront development, removal of dunes/vegetation, foot traffic, and hard structures that alter sediment transport; mitigations: beach nourishment, planting dune vegetation, managed retreat, restricting development.
These are the 5 layers of the oceans going from shallowest to deepest.
What are Epipelagic(photic), Mesopelagic, Bathypelagic, Abyssopelagic, Hadalpelagic zones?
From youngest to oldest, list the 3 major types of reefs.
What are fringe, barrier, and atolls
Evaluate how removal of a single abundant grazer (e.g., certain limpets) could change community structure on a rocky shore
What is grazer removal leads to algal overgrowth and community shift? — Removing an abundant grazer (e.g., limpet) can allow macroalgae or opportunistic species to overgrow, altering species composition, reducing biodiversity, and changing food-web dynamics.
Interpret how longshore drift and changing wave energy influence the formation of features like spits or barrier islands.
What is longshore drift forming spits/barriers as sediment accumulates where current weakens? — Longshore drift moves sand along the coast; where wave energy decreases or the shoreline changes, sediment can deposit to form spits, barrier beaches, or islands; changing wave energy and sediment supply determine growth or erosion of these features.