(a) List three major zones in the marine habitat stating one characteristic feature of each zone. (b) (i) Give one example each of plants and animals in the marine habitat. (ii) Explain how each of the plant and animal is adapted to the habitat. (c) State three bahavioural adaptations of animals to seasonal changes in terrestrial habitat. (d) State three characteristics each of the plant community in the tropical rain forest and savanna.
Explanation
(a)(i)The major zones in the marine habitat are: (1) Splash or Supral tidal zone (2) Neritic or Litoral zone/subtidal/ diphotic zone (3) Neritic/intertidal zone/planktonic/euphotic zone (4) Hadal/Aphotic zone (5) Benthic/pelagic/abyssal zone/Aphotic/Oceanic zone. (ii) Characteristics of each zone are: (1) Splash/Supratidal is exposed and has occasional moisture. (2) Litoral zone is always under water and abundant light and enough nutrient. (3) Intertidal zone is exposed at low tide and covered by water at high tide. Also, it has high photosynthetic activity, primary production, abundant light and fluctuation of water temperature. (4) Hadal/Aphotic zone has no light penetration and no photosynthetic activities. (5) Benthic zone has low light penetration and intensity. (b)(i)(1) Plants in marine habitat are: Sea weed or diatom, algae and sesevium. (2) Animals in marine habitat are; bony fish, crabs, starfish, barnacles, shrimps, cartilageneous fishes and periwinkle (ii) Sea weed is adapted to the habitat by: (1) possession of mucilagenous cover to prevent dessication. (2) divided leaves, floating devices and air bladder for bouyancy. (3) point of attachment that makes it hold fast to water. (4) ability of animals e.g. cartilageneous fishes to retain little urea in the body to cope with water salinity. (c) Behavioural adaptations of animals to seasonal changes in terrestial habitat are: (i) Hibernation in cold weather (ii) Migration to warmer regions in winter (iii) Aestivation in unfavourable weather (iv) Basking in the sun to raise body temperature (v) Covering body with warm clothing or material or resting with warm material (vi) Burrowing habit to avoid harsh weather in rodents. (d)Characteristics of plant community in the rainforest: (i) The plants have broad leaves and buttress roots. (ii) The forest has many tall trees. (iii) There is presence of epiphytes. The plants have regularly stratified canopies and possess thin barked trees. (vi) The ground is generally littered with a lot of leaves. Characteristics of plant community in the savanna: (1) The plant has no stratified canopies. (2) The area is predominantly grassland. (3) It has plants with underground stem. (4) The plants possess fewer trees that are scattered (5) Deep rooted plants. (6) They are generally fire resistant trees with thick bark. (7) The trees are resistant to draught.
