15 Terms
Contributors in Marine biology
Marine biology
Leeward
Biology; Marine biology
The side of an island opposite from the one facing a persistent wind.
Continental shelf
Biology; Marine biology
A broad expanse of ocean bottom sloping gently and seaward from the shoreline to the shelf-slope break at a depth of 100 to 200 m.
Ecosystem
Biology; Marine biology
A community of plants, animals and other organisms that are linked by energy and nutrient flows and that interact with each other and with the physical environment. Rain forests, deserts, coral ...
Photosynthesis
Biology; Marine biology
A chemical process whereby plants and algae use a sun's energy to make sugars (organic compounds) from carbon dioxide and water (inorganic compounds). See also autotroph, chemosynthesis.
Marine protected area
Biology; Marine biology
A conservation geographic unit designed to protect crucial communities and to provide reproductive reserves for fisheries that hopefully will disperse over wider areas.
Harmful algal bloom
Biology; Marine biology
A bloom of (usually) planktonic microalgae belonging to a strain of a species that has a toxic harmful to marine organisms or humans consuming marine organisms.
Between-habitat comparison
Biology; Marine biology
A contrast of diversity in two localities of differing habitat type (e.g., sand versus mud bottoms).
