aquatic ecosystems vocab

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1. Aquaculture the cultivation of aquatic plants and animals 19. Marine life oceans and their bays, estuaries, coastal
for food zones wetlands, shorelines, coral reefs, and
mangrove forests
2. Aquatic Life giant circulatory systems transporting
Zones 20. Mesotrophic lakes with an intermediate level of productivity
lakes
3. Benthos organisms that live on bottom floor of ocean
(attached) 21. Nekton aquatic animals that are able to swim and
move independently of water currents
4. Bycatch the unwanted fish and other marine creatures
caught during commercial fishing for a 22. Ocean when CO2 is absorbed by the ocean and
different species acidification reacts with seawater to produce acid
5. Coastal coastal land areas covered with water all or 23. Oligotrophic a lake with low primary productivity, as a
Wetlands part of the year lakes result of low nutrient content
6. Coastal zone the interface between the land and water 24. Open sea the expanse of sea away from any coastlines
7. Cultural the process that speeds up natural 25. Overfishing the removal of a species of fish from a body
eutrophication eutrophication because of human activity. of water at a rate that the species cannot
Due to clearing of land and building of replenish in time, resulting in those species
towns and cities, land runoff is accelerated either becoming depleted or very
and more nutrients such as phosphates and underpopulated in that given area
nitrate are supplied to lakes and rivers, and
26. Plankton free floating organisms
then to coastal estuaries and bay.
27. Purse-seine a seine that can be drawn into the shape of a
8. Decomposers an organism, especially a soil bacterium,
bag using the line along the bottom of the net
fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes
like the drawstring of a purse
organic material
28. Runoff the draining away of water (or substances
9. Drainage any area of land where precipitation collects
carried in it) from the surface of an area of
basin and drains off into a common outlet
land, a building or structure, etc
10. Drift-net a fishing technique where nets hang
29. Saltwater ocean water that contains a significant amount
vertically in the water column without being
of salt
anchored to the bottom
30. Surface water that collects on the surface of the
11. Estuary the tidal mouth of a large river, where the
water ground
tide meets the stream
31. Trawler a commercial fishing vessel designed to
12. Eutrophic a lake or pond, has high biological
operate fishing trawls
lakes productivity. Due to excessive nutrients,
especially nitrogen and phosphorus, these 32. Turbidity the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid
water bodies are able to support an 33. Watershed an area or ridge of land that separates waters
abundance of aquatic plants flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas
13. Fishery a place where fish are bred
14. Freshwater lakes, rivers, streams, and inland wetlands
life zones
15. Inland lands covered with freshwater all or part of
wetlands the time (excluding lakes, reservoirs, and
streams) and located away from coastal
areas.
16. Intertidal between high tide & low tide
zones
17. Lake a large body of water surrounded by land
18. Long-line a commercial fishing technique. It uses a
long line, called the main line, with baited
hooks attached at intervals by means of
branch lines