Watersheds
The land that water flows across and through
What is a watershed?
What is water temperature?
wetlands where fresh and salt water mix due to rivers and ocean tides meeting
What are estuaries?
all trees, all aquatic animals and plants, and humans
What are biotic factors?
one type of atom
What is an element?
Water that flows through the ground
What is groundwater?
the amount of salts dissolved in water
What is salinity?
mossy and acidic wetlands
What are bogs?
mud, clay, silt, sand, gravel, rocks, soil, oxygen, water, sunlight
What are abiotic factors?
Molecules increase their kinetic energy when this is added
What is thermal energy?
All the smaller streams and rivers that flow into a larger one.
What is a tributary?
the way aquatic organisms "breathe"
What is dissolved oxygen?
wetlands with tall, strong grasses found along the coasts
What are salt marshes?
Excess fertilizers cause high nitrogen concentrations in water allowing these plants to grow which blocks sunlight and decreases dissolved oxygen
What is algae?
Infrared, Visible Light, and Ultraviolet
The features that separate watersheds
What are ridgelines and divides?
the acidity of the water
What is pH?
flooded forests with a thick tangle of roots found in central and southern Florida
What are mangrove swamps?
Removing or filling in wetlands causes an increase in sediment pollution due to a increase in this
What is erosion?
By absorbing thermal energy in the summer and slowly releasing it in the winter, large bodies of water do this for the climate
What is moderate it?
What are the Chesapeake Bay, North Carolina Sounds, and Gulf of Mexico?
the presence of these organisms can help determine the health of a water system
What are macroinvertebrates?
One of the biggest reasons aquatic animals use estuaries for their nurseries
What is protect from predators?
Building on platforms and using monitoring stations can do this for a wetland
What is protect it?
Name the #1 factor necessary for hurricanes to form
What is warm, solar-heated water?