Name this region (trop., temp., tundra etc.) where salt marshes are most commonly found.
What is the Temperate region
100
Seagrass roots help prevent this geological process from occurring.
What is : What is erosion.
100
Benthic refers to which part of a marine ecosystem?
What is the seafloor/bottom
100
What is often the limiting agent (nutrient) for growth in marine ecosystems?
What is Nitrogen.
200
What are the two groups plankton is divided into and how do they obtain energy?
What are Phytoplankton (primary producer - photosynthesis) & Zooplankton (consumer)
200
Salt marshes occur in what part of an estuary?
Where is the inter-tidal zone.
200
Seagrass belong to this Division of the Kingdom Plantae that reproduce via fruit, seeds, and flowers.
What is angiosperm.
200
From where do benthic organisms derive most of their food?
dying organisms and waste products falling from the water column.
200
What are 2 possible causes of seagrass die-offs in LIS and elsewhere?
Where is change in landuse (alters riverine inputs etc.), pathogens i.e. Labyrintula zosterea, change in sea-level or temp.
300
When plankton die off/fall to bottom they can cause anoxic/hypoxic conditions. What does this mean and how does it occur.
microbes (bacteria) utilize the excess nutrients for respiration which leaves very little/no O for other organisms to use.
300
The buildup of dead vegetation that allows marshes to stay above sea level.
What is : accretion?
300
Named for it's likeness to a common sea creature, this is the most common seagrass in temperate regions.
What is Zostera marina.
300
Give one of 3 main types of feeders in a benthic ecosystem what are they?
What is 1. Shredders 2. Filter-feeders and 3. Deposit feeders
300
Give 2 functions that are similar to salt marshes and seagrass beds.
What are storm buffers, habitat, food sources, often export nutrients to marine habitat.
400
Which type of phytoplankton is the most widespread?
What are the diatoms
400
A common invasive reed which is quickly out-competing native reed/grass species.
What is Phragmites australis.
400
Sea cows (Dugongs/manatees) depend on their gut microflora to digest their diet of seagrasses, what is the material in seagrasses that humans can not digest and which sea cows would need microflora to do so?
What is cellulose.
400
Give two commercially important benthic species that can be found in LIS.
What are lobster, crabs and shellfish.
400
Seagrasses such as Z. marina use these structures, running horizontally under the surface of the soil, in asexual reproduction where new growth is produced at nodes along the structure.
What are rhizomes.
500
What type of plankton is responsible for "red tides" and are therefore responsible for beach and shellfish bed closings.
what are dinoflagellates.
500
What are two conditions that seagrasses have to adapt to to survive in their environments? Think challenges unique to water vs. land life.
turbidity:photosynthesis, total submersion: gas exchange, wave energy: flexible shoots etc.
500
Dead organic matter that falls to the seafloor is quickly colonized by....
What is bacteria.
500
What is the closest terrestrial relative to phytoplankton?