Across
- 4. These organisms break down dead and decaying matter and return nutrients back to the producers of the ecosystem.
- 5. capacity The maximum number of individuals or inhabitants that a given environment can support without detrimental effects on the habitat or the organisms. Native A species that has lived in a particular region for thousands of years, and, as such, has coevolved with its associates (other animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria). It’s not enough for the species to have reproduced in the area for a few generations unaided by humans—these species are described as naturalized, but not native.
- 6. A larval developmental stage of mussels. Glochidia mimic insects to entice fish to ingest them—the fish hosts them for a stage of their development.
- 8. A type of decomposer
- 10. Bottom materials such as rocks, gravel, or muck.
- 11. Species Species or types of organisms introduced—intentionally or accidentally—into places where they’re not native and did not originally occur, and adversely affect the habitats they invade environmentally, ecologically, or economically.
Down
- 1. The name of the invasive organism that has entered the freshwater ecosystems here in Minnesota.
- 2. An invertebrate animal with a soft, unsegmented body, usually enclosed in a shell.
- 3. These organisms are the base of the food chain and create the largest amount of energy through the process of photosynthesis.
- 4. The acronym for the Department of Natural Resources
- 7. Tiny microscopic organisms (plants and animals) that usually live suspended in the water and are eaten by fish and other aquatic life and form the base of aquatic food chains.
- 9. The river in Minnesota that used to be overrun by invasive zebra mussels but has since shown signs of a restored ecosystem.