Chapter 14 Estuaries

A mix of freshwater and saltwater is called:

• wetland

• mangal

• brackish

• osmoconformer

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

Salty water is more dense and sinks to the bottom of estuaries, flowing along the bottom. This is known as a:

• mudflat

• succulent

• bar-built estuary

• salt wedge

Animals that live on top of the substrate or attached to it as sessile organisms:

• meiofauna

• epifauna

• infauna

• flora

Animals that burrow in the sand, mud, and sediment, living within the soft substrate.

• meiofauna

• epifauna

• infauna

• pelagic

Animals small enough to live in the interstitial spaces between the grains of sediment:

• meiofauna

• infauna

• fiddler crabs

• epifauna

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Shorebirds have beaks of different shapes and sizes that allow them to prey upon particular mudflat animals. These unique traits that allow the birds to be successful in their environment are called:

• flaws

• adaptations

• genes

• learned behaviors

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Dense forests of mangrove trees:

• mangals

• mango groves

• mudflats

• meiofauna

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS2-5

The soft bottom of estuaries, with fine silty material, that can become exposed at low tide. Common in areas with a large tidal range, and gently sloping bottom:

• salt wedge

• salt marsh

• mangal

• mudflat

Just above the mudflats, these are extensive grassy areas that sometimes flood at high tide:

• mudflats

• manglars

• oyster reefs

• salt marshes

The movement (diffusion) of water to the hypertonic solution, across a semipermeable membrane.

• hydrolysis

• osmosis

• outwelling

• active transport