1. Cycles Water, Carbon, Nitrogen,

2. What are watersheds? A watershed is a region or area that may contain several rivers, streams or lakes that ultimately drain to a particular watercourse or body of water. Many smaller watersheds make up a large watershed often called a river drainage basin.

4. Why do watersheds matter to me? Many of our daily activities affect our watershed ◦ Runoff from lawns ◦ Water from roads and parking lots ◦ Runoff from farm fields ◦ Plants discharge (get rid of) treated wastewater We want clean water to ◦ Drink ◦ Help our food grow ◦ Swim, fish, and boat in ◦ For our aquatic and wildlife habitats

5. South Carolina Watersheds In SC there are 8 major watersheds. Each of those can be broken down into smaller watersheds ◦ Savannah ◦ Salkehatchie ◦ Saluda ◦ Edisto ◦ Catawba ◦ Santee ◦ Broad ◦ PeeDee

6. South Carolina Watersheds

7. York County Watersheds In York County there are 2 main watersheds. ◦ Broad River ◦ Catawba River

9. Water Quality Describes the chemical, physical, and biological condition of a body of water. WQ is determined by measuring ◦ Nutrients ◦ Sediments ◦ Water Temperature ◦ Salinity ◦ Dissolved Oxygen ◦ Chemical Contaminants

10. What are Ecosystems An ecosystem contains all organisms and their non-living surroundings. Example: Estuary ◦ Includes all animals, plants, water, soil, air, and sunlight present and the interactions among them.

11. Life in the Water The presence and identities of macroinvertebrates is used to assess the water quality of rivers, streams, lakes, and other aquatic ecosystems.

12. What is Pollution Pollution is anything that harms the natural environment

13. Types of Pollution Non-Point Source ◦ Example: when someone dumps trash in the river Point Source ◦ Example: when a plant discharges untreated waste water into a creek

14. Carbon cycling There is actually very little of the total carbon cycling through the Earth system at any one point in time. Most of the carbon is stored in geologic deposits - carbonate rocks, petroleum, and coal - formed from the burial and compaction of dead organic matter on sea bottoms. The carbon in these deposits is normally released by rock weathering.

17. Organisms’ role Photosynthesis (plants) Respiration (all org.) Decomposition (decom.) Other compounds: ◦ Stored as carbs., proteins, lipids, nucleic acids

18. Other carbon releasing: Combustion Weathering of Carbonate rock ◦ Calcium Carbonate (formed from shell and bones in sedimentary rock)

19. Nitrogen cycle N - component of proteins and nucleic acids Available to living things in a variety of forms, the source used depending on the species: ◦ Heterotrophs - only use org. N (already inc. into organic molecules) ◦ Plants use inorganic N-containing ions  nitrate (NO 3 - ) and ammonium (NH 4 + )

20. Nitrogen cycle Some bacteria and fungi decompose dead organisms converting organic nitrogen to inorganic nitrogen in the process The movement of nitrogen between different groups of organisms and between the different molecular types is known as the nitrogen cycle

21. Nitrogen forms: N 2 = atmospheric nitrogen NH 3 = Ammonia NH 4 + = Ammonium NO 3 - = Nitrates 3 types of bacterial action: Nitrogen fixing Nitrifying Denitrifying

23. Mycorrhizae bacteria in roots