Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
E. Sci. River Vocab
River Vocabulary for Hoover High School Environmental Science
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Algae | group of primitive, non-floweringplants which include certain seaweed andmicroscopic phytoplankton. |
| *Alkalinity | The amount of calcium carbonated in water. |
| Anadromous fish | fish such as Americanshad, that migrate from their primary habitatin the ocean to freshwater to spawn. |
| Artificial Eutrophication | When excess nitrogen or phosperous gets into the water, things grow quickly and use up oxygen. |
| Benthic organisms | plants and animals living in or on the bottom in aquatic environments. |
| Biological Assessment using Benthic Macroinvertebrates | Different invertebrates grow in different levels of pollution, making these animals ecological indicators. |
| Boundary layer | the layer of water closest to the rocks and rubble on a stream or river bottom; this layer moves slower than the |
| Catadromous fish | fish such as the American eel, that migrate from their primary freshwater habitat to the ocean to spawn |
| Complete metamorphosis | life cycle of certain insects that involves four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. |
| Decomposer | organisms (such as bacteria, fungus, and some macroinvertebrates) that breakdown dead organic matter. |
| Detritus | decomposed or partly decomposed plant and animal matter. |
| *Dissolved oxygen | free oxygen (O2) released into the water by photosynthesis and by air-water interactions; it is essential for respiration of aquatic animals. |
| Ecology | the study of interrelationships of living things to one another and to their environment. |
| Erosion | the wearing away of land surfaces by wind or water; erosion occurs naturally but it is often intensified by man’s land use practices |
| Eutrophication | over-enrichment of a body of water as a result of excessive nutrient loading, often resulting in depletion of dissolved oxygen. |
| Filter collectors | any aquatic organism that feeds by removing small organic particles from the water. |
| Food Web | complex interaction of food chains in a biological community, shows energy flow |
| Functional feeding groups | a way of categorizing organisms according to what they eat and how they obtain food |
| Groups 1,2,& 3 of pollution tolerance (Benthic Macroinvertebrates) | Different benthinc invertebrates are tollerant of different levels of pollution, so monitoring the population of each level can be an indicator of pollution. |
| *Hardness (water quality test) | A measure of minerals in water. |
| Non-point source of pollution | pollution from an unknown source. |
| *pH | the measure of the acidity of a liquid. A higher pH means the liquid is basic, while a lower pH means it's acidic. |
| phytoplankton | the plant form of plankton |
| Point source pollution | pollution from a definable source, such as outfall pipe. |
| Pollution | the addition of substance(s) to an environment in greater than natural concentration as a result of human activity producing a net detrimental effect on the environment. |
| Predator | an organism that feeds on other animals. |
| Primary producers | organisms using the sun’s energy and inorganic nutrients to synthesize organic compounds which in turn may provide energy to other organisms. |
| Runoff | water that collects on land and runs into waterways after rainfall. |
| Scrappers | any aquatic organism that feeds on algae, bacteria, fungus, etc. growing on submerged objects |
| Sediment | particles which accumulate on the bottom of a waterway |
| Sewage treatment | – Primary: screening or settling large solids out of sewage –Secondary: removal of organic material in sewage by aeration and by bacterial action. –Tertiary: removal of nutrients and traces of toxic organic material from sewage. |
| Shredders | any aquatic organism that feeds on coarse organic material, such as leaves or twigs. |
| Substrate Types | Components of the bottom of a river |
| Tributaries | streams and rivers that supply a larger body of water. |
| Trophic levels | the levels at which an organisms feeds in a food web (primary consumers, predators, etc.) |
| *Turbidity | the measurement of water cloudiness; it may be affected by such things as sediment and plankton concentrations. A Secchi disk is a white plate-sized disk attachedto a rope, that when lowered down into the water measures turbidity. |
| Watershed | an area of land that is drained by a specified river or other body of water. |
| Watersheds of Alabama | Tennessee River, Tombigbee River, Black Warrior River, Cahaba River, Coosa River, Alabama River, Tallapoosa River, Alabama River, Conecuh River, Escatawpa River, Choctawhatchee River, Chattahoochee River, Perdido River, Mobile Bay |
| Wetland | any area that is occasionally or permanently covered with water. |
| Zooplankton | the animal form of plankton. |
| Anoxic conditions | situation where the dissolved oxygen level of water becomes to low to sustain most aquatic life |
Created by:
saabn
Popular Earth Science sets