Science / Marine Biology Glossary

Vertically Homogeneous Estuary: An estuary in which, at any given location, wind or tidal mixing homogenizes salinity throughout the water column

Vitamin: Chemical substances required in trace concentrations acting as a cofactor with enzymes in catalyzing biochemical reactions

Viviparous (Development): Refers to development of an organism through the juvenile stage within a parent

Vulnerable: A species of special concern because of characteristics that make it particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events. Compare endangered, extinct, extirpated, threatened.

Wash Zone: The depth zone in which sediments are disturbed by wave action near the shoreline

Water Cycle: The continuous circulation of water from the atmosphere to the earth, including the ocean, and back to the atmosphere through condensation, precipitation, evaporation, and transpiration.

Water Mass: A body of water that maintains its identity and can be characterized by such parameters as temperature and salinity

Watershed: The land area that is drained by a river or estuary and its tributaries

Westerlies (Prevailing Westerlies): Persistent eastward-equatorward winds in midlatitudes in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

Windward [Side]: The side of an island that faces a persistent wind

Within-Habitat Comparison: A contrast of diversity between two localities of similar habitat type

Wrack Zone: A bank of accumulated litter at the strandline

Year-Class Effect: The common domination of a species population by individuals recruited in one reproductive season

Zonation: Occurrence of single species or groups of species in recognizable bands that might delineate a range of water depth or a range of height in the intertidal zone

Zooplankton: Animal members of the plankton

Zooxanthellae: A group of dinoflagellates living endosymbiotically in association with one of a variety of invertebrate groups (e.g., corals)

Zygote: A fertilized egg. Or the diploid cell that results from the joining of two haploid gametes (sperm and egg) during sexual reproduction, that will cleave to form an embryo. See also fertilizat . . . View Full Definition

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