1. Aquatic Biomes

2. Water on the Earth
75% - 78% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water

3. How much freshwater? Of all the water available on Earth…
Only 3% is freshwater
Of the 3% freshwater, 2% is tied up in glaciers and icebergs…
Only leaving less than 1% available to humans.

4. Types of Life in An Aquatic Biome

5. What factors influence the kind of life an aquatic biome contains?
Salinity
Depth (Sunlight)
Speed of water flow
Dissolved oxygen levels

6. Major types of aquatic biomes
Salt Water
Estuaries**
Coastlines
Coral Reefs
Coastal Marshes**
Mangrove Swamps**
Oceans
** May be brackish
Fresh Water
Streams
Rivers
Lakes
Ponds
Wetlands (inland)

7. Limnology The study of fresh water and its ecosystems
The study of freshwater ecosystems can be divided into 2 systems
1. Lentic – standing water
(little or no current)
2. Lotic – flowing water

8. Examples of Lentic Systems
Standing water
Lakes
Ponds
Wetlands
Marshes
Swamps
bogs

10. Lakes
Oligotrophic: poorly nourished
Eutrophic: richly nourished

11. Examples of Lotic Systems
Moving water
Rivers
Streams

13. Life Found in Aquatic Systems

14. Phytoplankton “Plant Plankton” Free Floating Microscopic
Cynobacteria or algae
Producers
Contain cholorphyll - photosynthetic
Support most aquatic food chains and food webs

15. Did you know????
Plants in the ocean produce over half the world's oxygen.
The most important plants in the ocean are too small to be seen without a microscope.
They float near the surface and drift with the currents, so they have been named phytoplankton (phyto=plant, plankton=drifter).
Phytoplankton are the 'grass' of the sea. Where they grow there is food for marine animals.
Ocean color tells you how much phytoplankton there is in the water.

17. Zooplankton “Animal Plankton” Non-photosynthetic
Consumers (herbivores)
Feed on phytoplankton
Single Celled Protozoa to larger invertebrates such as jellyfish
Many zooplankton are larval stages of familiar animals

19. Nekton
Strong Swimmers
Consumers
Fish, turtles, Whales

21. Benthos Bottom Dwellers Habitats:
Anchor to one spot: barnacles, oysters
Burrow in mud or sand: worms
Walk on bottom: Lobsters, crabs
Habitats:
Intertidal zones, rocky shores, tide pools
Muddy Sandy communities
Deep ocean/ coral reefs
Hydrothermal vent areas
archaebacteria

23. Decomposers
Break down organic compounds into simple nutrients that can be used by producers
Break down dead bodies and waste

24. Characteristics of an Aquatic Biome

25. Have less pronounced and fixed physical boundaries
Makes it difficult to count and manage populations
due to the size of the ocean and many organisms are largely hidden from view

26. Catch and release
Tagging with electronic monitors
Acoustics used to measure Krill Populations

27. Characteristics of an Aquatic Biome
Have more complex and longer food chains and food webs

29. Ocean Biomes

30. High tide Coastal Zone Open Sea Sun Low tide Sea level Photosynthesis
Euphotic Zone
Estuarine Zone
Continental shelf
Bathyal Zone
Twilight
Abyssal Zone
Figure 6.5
Natural capital: major life zones in an ocean (not drawn to scale). Actual depths of zones may vary.
Darkness
Fig. 6-5, p. 130

31. Biological Zones in the Open Sea: Light Rules
Euphotic zone: brightly lit surface layer.
Nutrient levels low, dissolved O2 high, photosynthetic activity.
Bathyal zone: dimly lit middle layer.
No photosynthetic activity, zooplankton and fish live there and migrate to euphotic zone to feed at night.
Abyssal zone: dark bottom layer.
Very cold, little dissolved O2.

32. Advantages of living in the ocean

33. Physical support from water buoyancy
Organisms take advantage of water's buoyancy to transport themselves to nearby or distant habitats with little energy expenditure

34. Fairly constant temperature

36. Nourishment from dissolved nutrients

37. Areas of pronounced upwelling
-Deep oceanic currents colliding with sharp coastal shelves
Temperature differences / changes
Surface Winds

39. Water Availability
Oceans cover 139,400,000 square miles of the Earth’s surface
The average depth of the oceans is 12,238 feet

40. Easy dispersement of organisms, larvae and eggs
Water propulsion
Water propulsion

41. Hydrofoils - use of flippers
Up/Down movement of pectoral fins

42. A big difference between fish and dolphins is that a fish's tail moves from side to side and a dolphin's moves up and down.

43. The more slender the body shape, the faster the movement

44. Advantages Less exposure to harmful radiation
Dilution and dispersion of pollutants

45. Disadvantages Can tolerate a narrow range of temperatures
Exposure to dissolved pollutants
Fluctuating populations size for many species
Dispersion separates many aquatic offspring from parents

46. Why are oceans important?
Covers 71-75% of earth’s surface
Make up 99.5% of earth’s habitable volume
Contain 250,000 known species of plant and animals
Provide important and ecological and economic services

47. Ecological Services

48. Ecological Services Climate moderation Carbon dioxide absorption
Nutrient cycling
Reduced storm impact (mangrove swamps, estuaries, barrier islands)
Habitats and nurseries for species (shrimp, crab, oysters, clams, fish)
Genetic resources and biodiversity

49. Mangrove Swamps (Forest)
Mangrove swamps are found along tropical seacoasts on both sides of the equator

50. Estuaries

51. Barrier Islands

52. Economic Services

53. Food

54. Pharmaceuticals Algae: Astaxanthin is a powerful
natural antioxidant / dietary supplement

55. Transportation
Ocean transport is the backbone of internal trade

56. Coastal Habitats and Employment for Humans

57. Recreation

58. Offshore Oil and Natural Gas / Minerals

59. Coastal Zones

60. What is a coastal zone?
The coastal zone is the warm, nutrient rich, shallow water from high tide area on land to the edge of the continental shelf.
Contains 90% of all marine species
Site of most commercial fisheries
Ample supply of sunlight and nutrients

61. Estuaries / Coastal Wetlands
Part of coastal zone
Brackish (mixture of salt and freshwater)
Usually due to the movement of the tides
Salinity and temperature vary due to
Daily tides
Seasonal variations and its affect of water flow
Unpredictable flows of water from flooding or storms
Constant movement of nutrients due to flow of water

62. Estuaries / Coastal Wetlands
Covered with water all or part of the year
River mouths (delta’s)
Inlets
Bays
Sounds
Mangrove forest swamps
Salt marshes

63. Major life zones in an ocean

64. Continental Rise

65. Oceans