Please read the pages indicated by Z-27 and study Behavioral Objective #40. The most abundant life in the oceans is found in a narrow stip surrounding Earth's land masses, where the water is shallow and a steady flow of nutrients is washed off the land. Coastal waters include the intertidal zone, the area that is alternately covered and uncocvered by water with the rising and falling of the tides, and the near-shore zone, relatively shallow but consantantly submerged areas, including bays and coastal wetlands such as salt marches and estuaries. Coral reefs are a habitat for a gigantic and truly amazing collection of plants and animals. The great Barrier Reef of Austrailia is one of the richest marine areas in the world. Between the seas and the continents lie a band of diverse mass of ecosystems that are not just transition zones but have ecological characteristics of their own. Along the shore live thousands of adapted species that are not to be found in the open sea, on land, or in fresh water. A rocky shore, a sandy beach, and intertital mud flats, and a tidal estuary dominated by salt marshes, illustrate four kinds of marine inshore ecosystems.

Activity: Write a paragraph describing which environmental factors are responsible for the characteristic adaptations demonstrated by the plants and animals in the estuaries and mudflats and give examples of the flora and fauna which may be found in this ecosystem’s trophic levels.

Because they are shallow and abundantly provided with mineral nutrients, ________ are highly productive habitats that shelter larval stages of many marine organisms.

a. pelagic zone

b. abyssal zone

c. mudflats

d. coral reefs

e. both c and d

Choose the correct statement from the list below which matches the correct biome.

1. In this biome the dropping of leaves is a more efficient adaptation to a wet-dry season, therefore, oaks are abundant.

2. Virtually a treeless vegetation dominated with grasses, sedges, and lichens due to a permafrost.

3. Plankton present in large amounts and sessile animals such as sponges present.

4. Receiving grounds for a constant flow of nutrients drained off from the land.

a. C B A D

b. A C B D

c. A B D A

d. C B D A

e. B D C A