1. Section 3: Aquatic Ecosystems
Chapter 6: Ecosystems
Section 3: Aquatic Ecosystems

2. 1. Rivers and streams – flowing water
A. Freshwater ecosystems – include flowing and standing water, low or no salt
1. Rivers and streams – flowing water
Hudson River, Bear Mountain Bridge

3. a. Most nutrients washed into
the water
from land
b. The faster the flow, the greater the oxygen content
Grand Canyon, Colorado River

4. 2. Lakes and ponds – very little flow
a. Sunlight warms and lights
pond bottom, supporting
plant and animal life

6. b. Deeper lakes support life along shallow shoreline or surface

8. 3. Water pollution – a problem caused by fertilizer-filled runoff and sewage

11. 4. Wetlands – regions wet all or most of the
year
a. Lie between
solid land and
water
Very fertile
ecosystems

14. B. Salt water ecosystems – 95% of Earth’s water contains high concentration of salt, or high salinity

15. 1. Open oceans – divided into lighted and dark life zones
lighted – upper 200m and
home of plankton

16. b. dark – below 200m where animals feed on material that floats down or prey on each other
Fangtooth fish

17. Angler fish; polychaete worm

18. Axolotl fish

19. blobfish

20. 2. Coral reefs -
diverse and
fragile
ecosystems
formed from
coral shells of
calcium
carbonate

22. Dory blue tang;

25. 3. Seashores – along coastlines
Intertidal zone -covered with water at high tide and exposed to air at low tide

26. b. Drastic changes in temperature, moisture, salinity, and wave action

28. 4. Estuaries - where a river
meets an ocean;
called bays,
lagoons, harbors,
inlets, sounds
Elkhorn Slough, CA

29. b. Changing mixture of salt water and freshwater
a. Rich in nutrients
b. Changing mixture of salt water and freshwater
Healthy estuary – Chesapeake Bay (largest estuary in the US)