Under Pressure
This dynamic ecosystem is directly influenced by river inflows.
What is an estuary?
At the base of the food web in most open ocean habitats are these producers.
What are phytoplankton?
Many deep-sea animals have this adaptation to attract prey or communicate in the absence of sunlight.
What is bioluminescence?
This phenomenon, caused by rising ocean temperatures, is a major threat to coral reefs, leading them to expel their symbiotic algae.
What is coral bleaching?
This coastal wetland dominated by cordgrass stores carbon, filters nutrients, and reduces storm surge impacts.
What is a salt marsh?
This ocean zone encompasses waters between 1000 and 4000 meters.
What is the bathypelagic?
This is the term for a sinking mass of organic matter, which provides food for organisms in the mesopelagic zone and deeper.
What is "marine snow"?
What is the benefit of large eyes in mesopelagic creatures?
What is low light detection?
What are two practices that threaten the benthic environment?
What is deep sea mining and bottom trawling?
Name two ecosystems that provide nursery habitat for juvenile fish.
What are mangroves, seagrass meadows, and estuaries?
Alternating immersion and exposure to air, wave energy, and salinity fluctuations are key abiotic conditions in this coastal habitat.
What is the intertidal zone?
In seagrass meadows, the food web is supported by primary production from the seagrass itself and these tiny organisms that grow on the blades.
What are epiphytes?
Nekton that live in the open ocean, specifically the epipelagic, often have this adaptation to aid in camouflage.
What is countershading?
Nutrient enrichment decreases the ability of salt marshes to perform this ecosystem service.
What is erosion control?
Name three ecosystem services provided by beaches and dunes.
What is natural storm buffering, nesting habitat, and recreation/tourism value?
These deep ocean phenomena are unique abiotic features of the Abyssopelagic and Hadal zones, providing an energy source independent of sunlight.
What are hydrothermal vents?
This anabolic process occurs in the deep ocean as an alternative to photosynthesis.
What is chemosynthesis?
Shell closure is an adaptation to avoid this intertidal stressor.
What is dessication?
Human activities that cause increased nutrient runoff into coastal waters can lead to this phenomenon, causing algal blooms and creating oxygen-depleted areas.
What is eutrophication?
This ecosystem service is provided by the ocean's ability to absorb and store atmospheric carbon, helping to mitigate climate change.
What is carbon sequestration?
Coral reefs thrive in this type of abiotic condition, which includes warm, clear, and shallow water with low nutrient levels.
What are oligotrophic waters?
What other ecosystem do mangroves support via detritus export?
What are offshore reefs?
Name four adaptations of mangroves to survive and reproduce in their salty, anoxic environment.
What is vivipary, prop roots, pneumatophores, salt excretion, and succulence?
Name three stressors affecting the epipelagic zone.
What is overfishing, plastic accumulation, and ocean warming?
Coral reefs support this proportion of the ocean's species, despite only covering ~1% of the ocean floor.
What is 25%?