1. Aquatic Ecosystems

2. Aquatic Ecosystems 75% of earth’s surface covered with water
Oceans, streams, lakes, marshes, rivers
Biotic and Abiotic factors
Aquatic Ecosystems determined by a variety of factors

3. Aquatic Ecosystems
Depth

4. Aquatic Ecosystems
Flow

5. Aquatic Ecosystems
Temperature

6. Aquatic Ecosystems
Chemistry

7. Freshwater 3% of earth’s surface water Two Main Types:
Flowing water ecosystems
Standing water ecosystems

8. Flowing Water Ecosystems
River, Stream, Creek, Brook
Adaptations:
Insect larvae with hooks
Catfish with suckers
Stream lined bodies

9. Flowing Water Ecosystems
Typically originate in mountain or hills
Often spring from underground source
Little plant life near source
Sediments allow for plant life down stream
Turtles, beavers, otters in slower moving water further down stream

10. Standing Water Ecosystems
Lakes and Ponds
Water typically circulates throughout (helps distribute heat, oxygen, nutrients)
Plankton (can often live in fresh or salt H2O)
Phytoplankton: base of many aquatic food webs (can be single cell algae)
Zooplankton: feed on phytoplankton

11. Wetlands
Wetland: waters covers soil or water at/near surface for part of the year
Can be flowing, standing, fresh, salty, brackish

12. Wetlands
Bogs
Usually form in depressions made from melted ice sheets (thousands of years prior)
Water is usually acidic
Sphagnum moss (thick mats grow here)

13. Wetlands Marshes: can be underwater all/part of the year
Cattails and other tall, grasslike plants

14. Wetlands Swamps: often look like flooded forests
Water flows slowly through swams
Presence of trees/shrubs distinguishes from marsh

15. Estuaries Wetlands formed where river & sea meet
Mixture of salt & fresh water (affected by tides)
Many are shallow (tf photosynthesis possible)
Primary producers = plants, algae, bacteria (both photosynthetic & chemosynthetic)
Most organic material becomes detritus (majority of estuary’s primary production)
Clams, worms, sponges feed on detritus

16. Estuary
Huge amount of biomass (but usually fewer species than fresh/salt environments)

17. Estuary
Clams, worms, sponges feed on detritus

18. Estuaries Often a spawning ground for many fishes & shrimp & crabs
Many waterfowl use them for nesting, feeding, resting

19. Salt Marshes
Temperate zone estuaries with salt tolerant grasses (above and below tide line)

20. Mangrove Swamp
Coastal wetlands (FL & HI) with abundance of salt tolerant trees (mangroves) & sea grasses
Everglades National Park

21. Marine Ecosystems
Photic Zone: 200 m
Algae & Producers

22. Marine Ecosystems Aphotic zone: permanently dark
Chemosynthetic autotrophs

24. Based on depth & distance from shore:
Intertidal zone
Coastal ocean
Open ocean

25. Intertidal Zone
High tide/Low tide

26. Coastal Ocean
Low tideouter edge of the continental shelf

27. “The Drop Off”

28. “The Drop Off”

29. Coral Reefs Coastal, tropical oceans Wide diversity of organisms
Cannot grow in cold water or fresh water
Live symbiotically w algae (tf w/in 40 m dt sunlight)

30. Open Ocean Aka Oceanic Zone Edge of continental shelf outward
>90% of surface area of oceans
500m  >11,000m
Deep ocean: high P, frigid, complete darkness
Low levels of nutrients

31. Benthic Zone
Benthos = organisms that live attached or near the bottom of the ocean

32. Benthic Zone

33. Everything except areas near the coast and the sea floor is called the pelagic zone.

34. Benthos

35. Benthos
Usually feed on detritus
that drifts down from
surface

36. Aquatic Food Web

37. Aquatic Food Web/Food Chain

38. Aquatic Food Web