AP Environmental Science / Unit 8: Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution
8.2 Human Impacts on Ecosystems
Notes
Pollutants harm aquatic life; species have different tolerances. Indicator species (like mayfly larvae) show water quality.
- Oil spills, ocean plastics, and coral bleaching from warmer, polluted water.
Practice
Finding many mayfly and stonefly larvae in a stream suggests:
They are pollution-sensitive.
Oil spills harm seabirds by:
Feathers stop working.
Coral bleaching happens when corals:
Lose their food source.
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