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RECREATION AND EDUCATION FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

LESSON 4 TEST

THE MAGICAL POWERS OF THE ESTUARIES

BY BOB BERGEN

PROFESSOR OF SCIENCE, RETIRED

AND TEEN ANGLER MENTOR

QUESTIONS

* The  dot does NOT represent the correct answer.  You have to choose the correct answers to all the questions

1. Brackish water can best be described as

a) the dirty effluent outflow from a sewage treatment plant
b) water that smells bad from rotting dead things
c) water that is saltier than fresh water, but not as salty as the ocean
d) water that is so overloaded with excess nutrients that fish kills occur often

2. Producers are

a) bacteria and fungi which decompose dead things, making their nutrients available
b) animals such as ants and vultures, which begin the decomposition cycle
c) animals like horses and cows, which eat only green plants
d) green plants

3. The importance of the littoral zone in an aquatic ecosystem is that

a) it provides a place where inch-long minnows can escape big fish that want to eat them
b) since it is deep water, it is cool in summer and warm in winter
c) it is shady
d) it is sunny

4. Seagrass beds (or grass flats) are found only in relatively shallow water (typically less than 2m {6.2 ft} deep) because

a) currents in deeper waters are too strong
b) light typically reaches about this deep
c) deep waters don't contain enough oxygen
d) deep water are generally too cold

5. Which of these grassbed habitats might produce fish most consistently, and why?

a) the shallowest portions, where the most prey may be found
b) the outer and deeper edge of the flat, where predators hide in the edge of the grass
c) the very middle of the flat, where the most fish of all kinds are found
d) the open area between grassbeds, which fish constantly cross as they move around

6. Write a one-sentence explanation for your answer in #5 above. (Note: this question has no perfect answer; we are instead interested in your thinking.)

7. Estuaries typically have three separate communities of green plants. These include

a) forests, grasslands and plant plankton
b) emergents, submergents and plant plankton
c) rotting dead bodies of plants and animals, algae, and grasses pollinated by animal plankton
d) plankton, plankton feeders and marshes

8. The tropical rain forest, although it is the most biologically productive ecosystem we know of, lacks an important part which estuaries have in abundance. That missing part is

a) brackish water
b) plankton
c) fresh water which drains into the estuary
d) sunshine

Need to Review......Lesson 4 Estuaries Article

 

 

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