Chapter 6 Aquatic Biodiversity

1. Chapter 6Aquatic Biodiversity Mandi Blanks

2. Vocabulary • Benthos: bottom dwellers such as barnacles and oysters that anchor themselves to one spot, worms that burrow into the sand or mud, & lobsters and crabs that walk about on the bottom • Coastal wetlands: land areas covered with water all or part of the year • Coastal zone: warm, nutrient-rich, shallow water that extends from the high-tide mark on land to gently-sloping, shallow edge of the continental shelf

3. Vocabulary • Cultural eutrophication: human inputs of nutrients from the atmosphere and from nearby urban and agricultural areas can accelerate the eutrophication of lakes • Decomposers: (mostly bacteria) that break down the organic compounds in the dead bodies and wastes of aquatic organisms into simple nutrient compounds for use by aquatic producers • Drainage basin: the land area that delivers runoff, sediment, and dissolved substances to a stream

4. Vocabulary • Estuary: partially enclosed coastal area at the mouth of a river where its fresh water, carrying fertile silt and runoff from the land, mixes with salty seawater • Eutrophic lake: lake with a large or excessive supply of plant nutrients, mostly nitrates and phosphates. Compare mesotrophic lake, oligotrophic lake • Surface water: precipitation that does not infiltrate the ground or return to the atmosphere by evaporation or transpiration • Inland wetland: land away from the coast, such as a swamp, marsh, or bog, that is covered all or part of the time with fresh water

5. Vocabulary • Intertidal zone: the area of shoreline between low and high tides • Lake: large natural body of standing fresh water formed when water from precipitation, land runoff, or groundwater flow fills a depression in the earth created by glaciation, earth movement, volcanic activity, or a giant meteorite • Mesotrophic lake: lake with a moderate supply of plant nutrients • Nekton: strongly swimming organisms found in aquatic systems

6. Vocabulary • Oligotrophic lake: lake with a low supply of plant nutrients • Open sea: the part of an ocean that is beyond the continental shelf • Plankton: small plant organisms (phytoplankton) and animal organisms (zooplankton) that float in aquatic ecosystems • Runoff: fresh water from precipitation and melting ice that flows on the earth's surface into nearby streams, lakes, wetlands, and reservoirs

7. Vocabulary • Ultraplankton: photosynthetic bacteria no more than 2 micrometers wide • Watershed: land area that delivers water, sediment, and dissolved substances via small streams to a major stream (river) • Zooplankton: animal plankton. Small floating herbivores that feed on plant plankton (phytoplankton)

8. Objectives • What are the basic types of aquatic life zones, and what factors influence the kinds of life they contain? • Three layers of aquatic life zones can be used: surface, middle, and bottom. • 1. Temperature, sunlight availability, dissolved oxygen, and nutrient availability determine types and numbers of producers found in these zones. • 2. Euphotic zone: upper layer where sunlight can penetrate. Clouding or excessive algal growth reduces depth; Dissolved oxygen levels are higher near the surface due to photosynthesis in this area. • 3. CO2 levels are lower near the surface and higher in deeper, darker layers due to aerobic respiration. • 4. Open oceans tend to have limited amounts of nitrates, phosphates, iron, and other nutrients that limit productivity. • 5. Shallow waters are generally well supplied with nutrients for growth. • 6. Deep dwelling species depend on animal and plant material that die/float to the bottom. Large fish are vulnerable to overfishing depletion.

9. Objectives • What are the major types of saltwater life zones, and how do human activities affect them? • A. Oceans have two major life zones: the coastal zone and the open sea. • B. The coastal zone interacts with the land and is much affected by human activities. • 1. Ecosystems in coastal zones have a high net primary productivity per unit area. They constitute 10% of the oceans and contain 90% of all marine species. • 2. There is ample sunlight and nutrient flow from land, and wind/currents distribute them. • 3. The coastal zone extends from the high-tide mark on land to the edge of the continental shelf. • 4. Estuaries and coastal wetlands are subject to tidal rhythms, runoff from land, and seawater that mixes with freshwater and nutrients from rivers and streams. • 5. Mangrove forest swamps grow in sheltered regions of tropical coasts. They collect mud and anaerobic sediment. • 6. Coastal wetlands/estuaries make nutrients available due to constant stirring of bottom sediment. • 7. These areas filter toxic pollutants and excess plant nutrients, reduce storm damage, and provide nursery sites for aquatic species. • 8. Humans are destroying/degrading these ecosystems; one-third have already been lost.

10. Objectives • What are the major types of freshwater life zones, and how do human activities affect them? • A. Freshwater life zones contain less than 1% by volume of salt. These zones include standing (lentic) bodies such as lakes, ponds, and wetlands and flowing (lotic) systems such as streams and rivers. • B. Lakes are large natural bodies of standing water found in depressions. • 1. Rainfall, melting snow, and stream drainage feed lakes. • 2. Lakes generally consist of four distinct zones depending on depth and distance from shore. • a. The littoral zone is shallow, sunlit water near the shore. • b. The limnetic zone is open, sunlit surface water away from shore and is the most productive area for food and oxygen production. • c. The profundal zone is deep, open water too dark for photosynthesis. Oxygen levels are lower. • d. The benthic zone consists of decomposers and detritus feeders. Fish swim from one zone to another. Sediment washing and dropping detritus feed this area. • C. Stratification of water occurs in deep temperate lakes into temperature zones; no mixing occurs. • D. During fall and spring, lakes have turnover of water that brings up nutrients, reoxygenates bottom levels, and evens out water temperature.