Freshwater Ecosystems
Marine Ecosystems
Open Ocean
Ocean Zones
Misc
100
What are some examples of freshwater ecosystems?
Ponds, lakes, and rivers are some examples of freshwater ecosystems.
100
What are marine ecosystems?
Marine ecosystems are ecosystems with salt water.
100
What is open ocean?
Consists of the ocean excluding the coastal areas.
100
What are the major zones of the ocean?
Intertidal zone, the neritic zone, oceanic zone, and the abyssal zone, which is part of the oceanic zone.
100
What are the three main abiotic factors that affect marine ecosystems?
Temperature, sunlight, and water depth.
200
What are freshwater ecosystems?
Freshwater ecosystems have freshwater, or water without any salt.
200
What are the different zones of marine ecosystems?
The different zones include the intertidal zone, located between the high-tide and low-tide lines, neritic zone, which is below the low-tide line, the oceanic zone, located in the open water, and finally the abyssal zone, which is found on the ocean floor.
200
Without plants in the ocean, what are the producers in ocean food webs?
Algae and phytoplankton
200
Which region extends over the continental shelf?
The neritic zone.
200
What is an estuary?
An area where salt water from oceans flow into freshwater.
300
What are freshwater ecosystems affected by?
Freshwater ecosystems are affected by the qualities found in the landscape in which they are found in. For example, the different elevations affect how the water flows.
300
What are the different ecosystems found in marine biomes?
Intertidal ecosystems are found in the intertidal zone. Estuaries are where freshwater from rivers meet saltwater from the ocean. Coral reefs are found in the warm, shallow areas of the neritic zone, but kelp forests are found in the cold, shallow areas of the same zone.
300
What are the decomposers in an ocean ecosystem?
Some scavengers such as crabs, bacteria and worms.
300
What organisms live in the abyssal zone?
Bacteria, worms urchins, crabs, and fish.
300
What is an example of how temperature affects marine animals?
If water is too hot or too cold, animals may not be able to eat.
400
What are some characteristics of streams and rivers? Describe the organisms found in them.
Streams have cold fast-moving water, so animals are adapted to the strong current. Insects and small animals have hooks and suckers that allow them to stick on rocks, and trouts' streamlined bodies help them swim against the current. Because few plants and algae grow in the ecosystems, herbivores depend on fallen leaves and seeds.
400
What are marine ecosystems affected by?
Marine ecosystems are shaped by abiotic factors, such as the water depth, sunlight, and temperature. These factors affect marine ecosystems because the affect how organisms will adapt to the ecosystems. This means that they will eat, live, hunt, escape from predators, and move differently.
400
What conditions of the different ocean zones cause organisms to adapt?
Organisms have certain adaptations to adapt to the temperature and the amount of sunlight that reaches that zone.
400
What characteristics do organisms need for life in the intertidal zone?
Organisms must be able to survive exposure to air and water, pounding waves, and sudden changes in water level and temperature.
400
How is there life at the bottom of the ocean without sunlight?
Hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the sea release chemicals that can be used to create food.
500
What are ponds and lakes? What are the organisms found in these places like?
Ponds and lakes are both bodies of still freshwater. Ponds are usually shallow enough for sunlight to reach the floor in the center, which allow plants to grow there. In large ponds and lakes, algae that floats at the top are the main producers. As for the animals, dragonflies, turtles, snails, and frogs are found on the shore. In the open water, sunfish feed on insects and algae. Near the bottom, scavengers like catfish and decomposers feed off of remains of other organisms.
500
How are bacteria able to survive in the abyssal zone?
In the abyssal zone, hydrothermal vents release toxic chemicals. Strangely enough, bacteria are able to make their own food using the chemicals produced by these vents. The food that the bacteria make support other organisms as well, such as vent warms.
500
How do oceans affect life on Earth?
Oceans provide rain, wind, food, and water for plants and animals.
500
What factors contribute to the neritic zone's abundance in organisms?
Minerals, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, plentiful sunlight, and nutrients.
500
How might a lake become a forest?
Decomposition of dead organisms breaks down and uses up oxygen, decreasing oxygen levels and it causing fish to die. Over time, the pond is filled with sediment and plants grow over it.
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