Chapter 6 - Texas Aquatic Ecosystems vocab

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233
Across
  1. 2. benthos the community of organisms that live on or in the floor of a body of water, including rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans.
  2. 3. water with a salt content lower than about 0.05%; for comparison, sea water has a salt content of about 3.5%.
  3. 4. a wetland in which trees or woody shrubs predominate.
  4. 5. a wetland dominated by reeds and other grass-like plants.
  5. 7. an area in which the water contains low or no dissolved oxygen causing a condition known as hypoxia.
  6. 11. nonliving; not derived from living organisms; inorganic.
  7. 15. island—a long narrow island of sand that runs parallel to the mainland.
  8. 16. of or having to do with life or living organisms; organic.
  9. 20. something that is found in nature that is useful to humans.
  10. 23. a group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a particular place.
  11. 26. the number and variety of living things in an environment.
  12. 28. water with about 3.5% salt content; ocean water or seawater.
  13. 29. water that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as saltwater; often a result of mixing of freshwater and saltwater in estuaries.
  14. 30. a low-lying area where the soil is saturated with water at least seasonally, and supports plants adapted to saturated soils.
  15. 32. a large body of standing water.
  16. 33. oxygen gas absorbed by and mixed into water.
Down
  1. 1. the fitness of a water source for a given use, such as drinking, fishing or swimming.
  2. 6. artificial or natural lake built by placing a dam across a stream or river and used to store and often regulate discharge of water; underground storage area of water, such as in an aquifer.
  3. 8. material that comes from plants or animals either dead or alive that is capable of decay; important in the transfer of nutrients from land to water.
  4. 9. a partly enclosed body of water along the coast where one or more streams or rivers enter and mix freshwater with saltwater.
  5. 10. water that is so full of small particles, such as silt, that the water is no longer transparent but instead appears cloudy.
  6. 12. a body of water partially enclosed by land that is directly open or connected to the ocean.
  7. 13. the bottom of a stream or river channel.
  8. 14. impound—reservoirs created in river valleys by placement of a dam across the river.
  9. 17. a body of standing water small enough that sunlight can reach the bottom across the entire diameter.
  10. 18. silt, sand, rocks and other matter carried and deposited by moving water.
  11. 19. the natural environment in which an organism normally lives, including the surroundings and other physical conditions needed to sustain it.
  12. 21. study of the relationships living organisms have with each other and with their environment.
  13. 22. water that soaks into and refills an aquifer.
  14. 24. a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow that is taken from the environment; it can be an organic or inorganic compound.
  15. 25. a barrier or structure, natural or made by humans or animals, that is places across a stream or river to hold water back from flowing downstream.
  16. 27. submerged rooted aquatic plants that tolerate salinity.
  17. 28. the shoulder-like sides of the stream channel from the water’s edge to the higher ground nearby.
  18. 31. aquatic invertebrates with exoskeletons used as food, including various species of mollusks and crustaceans, such as crabs, shrimp, clams, and oysters.