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WHAT REQUIREMENTS DO THE FISH IN THE AQUARIUM NEED TO SURVIVE?. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF FISH FROM A LAKE WERE ADDED TO THE AQUARIUM?. MARINE. AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS. FRESHWATER. FRESHWATER MARINE. A Q U A T I C E C O S Y S T E MS.
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WHAT REQUIREMENTS DO THE FISH IN THE AQUARIUM NEED TO SURVIVE? WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF FISH FROM A LAKE WERE ADDED TO THE AQUARIUM?
MARINE AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS FRESHWATER FRESHWATER MARINE
A Q U A T I C E C O S Y S T E MS • Determined by salinity: amt of dissolved salts the water contains • This results in two categories of ecosystems: • Freshwater and Marine
CHARACTERISTICS OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM • TEMPERATURE • SUNLIGHT • OXYGEN • NUTRIENTS **Determines which organisms live in which areas of the water
Organisms are grouped by their LOCATION & ADAPTATIONS PLANKTON: organisms that float near surface of water A. Phytoplankton=microscopic plants B. Zooplankton= microscopic animals NEKTON: free-swimming organisms (fish, turtles, whales) BENTHOS: Bottom-dwelling organisms (mussels, worms, barnacles) * many live attached to hard surfaces-sessile
LIFE IN A LAKE Structured into Horizontal & Vertical Zones • Littoral Zone: Near shore (Diverse & abundant life) • Pelagic (open) Water: Photosynthesis • Benthic Zone: Deep water no photosynthesis
ADAPTATIONS TO LIVE IN POND/LAKE • Whiskers help catfish sense food as they swim over dark lake bottoms • In areas where lakes partially freeze, amphibians burrow into the littoral mud to avoid freezing temps
WATER MOLECULES • Solid water (ice) is less dense than liquid water (the opposite is true for almost every other substance) • If water didn’t have this unique property, little aquatic life would exist outside the tropics b/c in winter, ice would sink and lakes & ponds would freeze solid, killing aquatic organisms
THE GREAT LAKES(HOMES) • Superior, Michigan, Huron,Erie, and Ontario- form the largest surface freshwater system on the Earth. • The Great Lakes hold 21 % of the world's surface fresh water. • More than 30 million people live in the Great Lakes basin, and the daily activities of these people, from the water consumed to the waste returned, directly affects the Great Lakes environment.
LAKE BAIKALLARGEST,DEEPEST,& CLEAREST FRESHWATER LAKE • Located in Siberia • Largest Freshwater Lake (~20% ) If able to pull plug on the lake it would take all the water in the Great Lakes to fill it again • Deepest -more than a mile in some places • Very clear-one can see 130 ft beneath surface
LAKE BAIKAL • Surface temp ranging from high 30s to low 60s OF • Entire lake frozen 5 months out of year • The word “Baikal” is thought to be derived from Kurykan, a language spoken by the local people around 1,300 years ago, which means “much water.”
CLEARNESS--Baikal epischura Partially attributed to population of small crayfish; which eats algae & other particulates that would lower visibility
FRESHWATER SEAL Home to one of the worlds few freshwater seals species, Nerpa
NERPA FUN FACTS • To survive long swims under ice and deep diving conditions, they have four more pints of blood than any other seal—enabling them to go without fresh air for 70 minutes! • And they are capable of diving to almost 1,000 feet below the water’s surface! • Their hidden dens are carved out of snow and ice, and are entered underwater from below the iced-over winter lake.
MORE FRESH OXYGEN • Unlike all other deep lakes of the world where the lower depths are dead, asphyxiated by hydrogen sulfide and other gases, Lake Baikal's deep waters are blanketed in fresh oxygen. • It has only been in the past five years that scientists have discovered thermal springs beating up from the bottom of Baikal. • The release of hot, oxygenated water from underwater vents mixed by two horizontal currents and by rising and falling vertical currents may explain why the water is alive with aquatic life.
Another Interesting Animal • Exists exclusively in these waters is a fish that composes much of the Nerpa’s diet, called a Golomyanka. • A translucent body and no scales, it is unusual in many ways.
Golomyanka • A particularly fatty fish (up to 30% of its body composed of oil), it is able to withstand high pressure from deep water, and also adapt to the much less-pressurized water closer to the surface • Contains so much fat that, if left out of water in the sunlight, it will “melt,” leaving only what appears to be a puddle of oil and a skeleton!
HOW NUTRIENTS AFFECT LAKES EUTROPHICATION: increase in the amount of nutrients in an aquatic ecosystem
IS THIS A NEGATIVE or POSITIVE THING? • Lakes naturally become eutrophic over a long period of time • However can be accelerated by humans
FERTILIZERS: Nitrogen & Phosphorus • More plants & bacteria grow • They use the D.O. • Eventually they reduce amt of O2 kills O2 loving organisms
F R E S H W A T E RW E T L A N D S • Areas of land that are covered with fresh water for at least part of the year • Two main types: • MARSH: contain non-woody plants (cattails) • SWAMPS: woody plants (shrubs & trees)
Freshwater wetlands • Areas of land covered by water for at least part of the year • Include : MARSHES (non-woody plants) & SWAMP ( woody plants)
Wetlands not always easy to identify • Based on water, soil, & vegetation • WATER: floods area consecutively for @ least 7.5% of growing season • SOIL: remains wet enough to create oxygen-poor conditions (hydric soil) • VEGETATION: adapted to growing in wet soil with little oxygen (hydrophylic)
M A R S H E S • Occur on low, flat lands • Have little water movement • Several types-each characterized by salinity • Brackish marsh= slightly salty • Salt Marsh= saltier *Organisms adapted to range of salinity*
MARSH VEGETATION • Shallow waters plants- such as reeds, rushes, cattails -root themselves in rich bottom sediment • The leaves stick out above surface of water year-round
CATTAILS R E E D S RUSHES
FAUNA IN A MARSH • Benthic zone-nutrient rich • (plants, decomposers, scavengers) • Water fowl & birds adapted beaks • Many migratory birds from temperate & tropical biomes
S W A M P S Occur on flat, poorly drained land, often near streams Latitude & climate determine which veg.; woody shrubs or water-loving trees MANGROVE SWAMPS: occur in warm climates near ocean, therefore water is salty
ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONS of FRESHWATER WETLANDS • Act as filters- absorb & remove pollutants • Therefore they improve water quality of lakes, rivers, & reservoirs downstream • Control flooding by absorbing extra water when rivers overflow • Protects farms, residential, & urban areas from damage • Feeding and spawning areas for game fish
ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONS of FRESHWATER WETLANDS • Provides a home for native & migratory wildlife • Blue herons • Traps C that would otherwise b released as CO 2 • Produce many important commercial products • (cranberry)
RIVERS • Originate from snow melt in mountains • HEADWATERS- cold, oxygen rich run swiftly, shallow riverbed • DOWNSTREAM- warmer, less oxygen slower, deeper • MOUTH- discharge into larger body