CW2:8722
From Environmental Technology
a) What are wetlands? How are wetlands characterized? What are some types of wetlands? Wetlands are marshes, swamps, bogs and similar areas found between dry land and water along the edges of streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and coastlines. Wetlands are characterized by their vegetation. Wetlands types are estuarine wetlands and palustrine wetlands.
b)What are functions of wetlands? Wetland functions are to protect and improve water quality, help control flooding and erosion, recreation, and provide habitat for terrestrial and aquatic life.
c) What is percentage loss of Forest in the Bay area? How many tree and plant species are in the Bay area? Less than 60 percent of the original forest remains today. There are more than 50 major tree species and more than 2,700 different plant species in the Bay area.
d) What are the functions of the Forest? Forest functions are to protect water quality, create habitat for fish and wildlife, improve air quality, encourage recreation, and contribute to economy.
e) From the "Food Production and Consumption" section, list types of trophis it discusses and categorize them. The types of trophs are producers,consumers, and decomposers. Heterotrophs are the consumers, which eat other animals and plants. Autotrophs are plants, the primary food producers. All other organisms must feed on plants because they produce the food. Decomposers digest the bodies of dead plants and animals and the waste products of both.
f)What would happen to the entire system if the plankton were removed? Discuss the losses and problems that this could cause. Also, discuss what would happen if an unnatural overabundance of plankton were to occur in this region. Algal blooms can have serious consequences. They block light from reaching SAV beds. Even after they die, they can cause problems.Deposition and subsequent decomposition of large masses of plankton in the mainstem of the Bay can deplete dissolved oxygen, suffocating other estuarine animals.
g) Wetlands are disappearing from our coastlines atan alarming rate, does this sort of thing occur inland, or is it mainly a coastal problem? Is this really a problem, or should something be done about this? Have there been any other areas of deterioting wetlands have caused other massive problems or do you think is just a Chespeakes Bay problem?
