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FRESHWATER BIOMES

FRESHWATER BIOMES. Ecology Chapter 10. Aquatic Biomes. Water covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface Aquatic habitat : one in which organisms live in or on water not grouped geographically difficult to show on a map often determined by depth rather than location.

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FRESHWATER BIOMES

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  1. FRESHWATER BIOMES Ecology Chapter 10

  2. Aquatic Biomes • Water covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface • Aquatic habitat: one in which organisms live in or on water • not grouped geographically • difficult to show on a map • often determined by depth rather than location

  3. Land vs. Aquatic Biome • Temperature and rainfall are important factors when distinguishing one land biome from another. • Temperature in large bodies of water are relatively stable. • Rainfall has less effect on aquatic biomes because organisms are already underwater.

  4. Important Factors • Salinity: The amount of dissolved salts in a sample of water. Measured in parts per thousand (# units of salt in a thousand units of water) • Aquatic biomes can be divided into two main groups • Saltwater (30 parts/1000) • Freshwater (0.5 parts/1000) • Ocean water > brackish water < fresh water

  5. Important Factors • Depth – directly related to the amount of sunlight that reaches the bottom of the body of water. • Sunlight determines the types and amounts of plants that can grow. (Remember – plants are producers, and the base of the food web)

  6. Photic zone: top layer of sunlight that receives enough sunlight for photosynthesis to occur. • Aphotic zone: below the photic zone. Sunlight does not reach this zone. • Benthic zone: the floor of a body of water

  7. Question Break • What characteristic distinguishes the photic zone from the aphotic zone? Sunlight • How is salinity measured? Parts per thousand (# units salt/1000 units of water)

  8. Standing-water Ecosystems • The most common types of standing-water ecosystems are lakes and ponds. • Also includes wetlands (bogs, swamps, etc.) • While there is no flow of water in and out of most standing-water ecosystems, there is a circulation of water throughout the system. • Review question: How does this circulation occur? What causes the circulation?

  9. Types of Standing-Water Ecosystems AbioticFactors Biotic Factors Lake Deepest type of standing water; may have an aphotic zone; may be fed by aquifers Floating algae in the photic zone, plants along shoreline, complex food webs Pond Light reaches benthic zone; fed by rainfall – may be seasonal Main producers – plants and algae that grow on bottom; food web simpler than lakes Marsh Very shallow water, land occasion- ally exposed; saturated soil; Florida Everglades largest freshwater marsh Plants have roots under water, leaves above water; grasses, cattails; ducks and waterfowl Swamp Land soaked due to poor drainage; usually along low streambeds and flat land Large trees and shrubs; cypress trees in south, willow and dogwood in north Bog Inland wetland; soil is acidic; decay is slow Sphagnum moss dominant organ- ism, partly decayed moss accumu- lates as peat

  10. Standing-Water Organisms • Several levels of habitat • Plankton community • Plankton: microorganisms that float on the surface of the water • Phytoplankton: carry out photosynthesis. Main producers in most aquatic biomes • Zooplankton: do not carry out photosynthesis. Include microscopic animals and protozoans. Consumers – feed on phytoplankton Big fish feed on little fish, little fish feed on plankton • Benthic community • Scavengers, depend upon a steady rain of organic material that drifts down from the top. Decomposers are also part of this community

  11. Wetlands • Ecosystems in which the roots of plants are submerged under water at least part of the year. Soils are soaked with water, and very low in dissolved oxygen. • Marshes, swamps, bogs • Act as filters, detoxifying chemicals that passes through them • Can be used as part of a treatment system for waste water • Important breeding, feeding, and resting grounds for waterfowl.

  12. Endangered Wetlands • Wetlands are being destroyed by human activity. • Many do not find wetlands as attractive as other natural habitats • Land (especially in coastal areas) is developed for resorts and homes • Swamp Lands Act of 1849 encouraged the filling and draining of wetlands

  13. Florida Everglades • Once a swampy marsh that covered 160 km from Lake Okeechobee to the tip of Florida. • Region has a wet season from May to October, followed by a dry season. Natural fires occur during the dry season, burning off dried plant material. • Home to a large number of organisms, that are adapted to the annual cycle of growth, drought, and fire.

  14. In 1983, “Save Our Everglades” campaign was launched. • 100,000 acres returned to wetland • Flow of water adjusted to provide a more natural water supply

  15. Flowing-Water Ecosystems • Rivers, streams, creeks, brooks • All water that flows over land - to a scientist they are all streams • Water that flows underground is an aquifer • Stream Organisms • Adapted to the rate of the water’s movement • Hooks to grab hold of plants • Suckers that anchor to rocks

  16. ________: Rapids Waterfalls Fast-moving water Steep slope _______: Broad floodplain Meanders Oxbow lakes Meander Scars Stream Stages Youthful Old

  17. Important Definitions River System • ____________ – a stream and all its tributaries • ________ – a smaller stream that empties into a larger stream • _________ – the land area drained by a river system • ______ – a high point that separates river systems Tributary Watershed Divide

  18. Meanders ________ – the bends and curves of a stream

  19. Oxbow lake deposition erosion

  20. Alluvial Fan ____________ – deposit formed when a stream spreads out onto a less steep area

  21. Delta _____ – where a stream empties into a larger body of water

  22. Ganges River Delta

  23. Nile River Delta

  24. Human Impact on Streams • Flow and course of streams has been changed by human activities • Dams create reservoirs and are used for hydroelectric plants • Dams and levees can be used to irrigate farmland • Dams and levees affect farmland by preventing sediments from being deposited on floodplains • Change of course damages or destroys the habitats of organisms • Areas that were once streambeds become the bottoms of deep lakes

  25. To be considered fresh water, water must contain salt in a concentration More than 30 parts per thousand Less than 0.5 parts per million More than 40 parts per million Less than 0.5 parts per thousand Chapter 10 Review

  26. Brackish water is common in • Lakes • Oceans • Coastal marshes • aquifers

  27. Sunlight reaches the benthic zone in • Ponds • Deep lakes • Oceans • Vents in the ocean floor

  28. Organisms that live in the benthic zone of deep lakes are often • Producers • Plants • Scavengers • plankton

  29. A type of standing-water habitat in which the soil is acidic and decay is slow is called a • Bog • Swamp • Marsh • pond

  30. Phytoplankton are • Consumers • Decomposers • Producers • scavengers

  31. Wetlands are • Easy to define • Have traditionally been protected by laws • Are nonproductive areas that could be better used for other purposes • Are important breeding grounds

  32. Sediments tend to accumulate • In slow-moving parts of a stream • On the outer edge of a curve in a stream • In fast-moving parts of a stream • Near the beginning of the stream

  33. Streams always flow • South • Toward the ocean • Downhill • Toward the poles of Earth

  34. Levees and dams are beneficial to farmlands because they • Prevent stream sediments from being deposited on the fields • Protect the fields from floods • Provide a source of irrigation • Help refill aquifers

  35. Levees and dams are harmful to farm lands because they • Prevent stream sediments from being deposited on the fields • Protect the fields from floods • Provide a source of irrigation • Help refill aquifers

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