Download Aquatic Biomes

Marine Ecosystems
• Cover almost 75% of Earth’s surface
and contains 97% of Earth’s water
supply; and they provide most of
the water for Earth’s rainfall
through the water cycle processes
of evaporation and precipitation;
 Saltwater-3% concentration
 Freshwater-1% concentration
• Marine Life that is most abundant in Freshwater and
marine (salt water environment) is called plankton. There
are 2 types.
2 types of plankton
 1. phytoplankton – microscopic sun absorbing
organisms that float near the surface of the water.
These organisms make their own food.
 zooplankton – are consumers that feed on
phytoplankton. They are small animals that form the
feeding chain in oceans, seas and other bodies of
water;
Areas of Saltwater
Estuaries
 1. estuary - an area where freshwater from streams and
rivers spills into the ocean or another large body of
water; Marine environments begin at estuaries;
Mobile Bay is an estuary which
empties into the Gulf of Mexico,
which deposits its material into the
Atlantic Ocean.
 freshwater from nearby rivers (Mobile
River, Alabama River, and Tombigbee
River) is deposited in Mobile Bay
 Deposition – is the process where
sediments water, soils and materials lay to
rest.
Oceans
1. Worlds largest source of saltwater
2. Four major oceans and one
minor ocean
3. Marine life: nekton, plankton &
benthos thrive in these area feeding
off of plankton & other species of
flora & fauna
Freshwater Ecosystems
Ponds, Lakes, Rivers, Springs
(Aquifers) and Streams
Freshwater is less than 1%
salt by Concentration
Moving Water
Most of the world’s supply of
freshwater is actually frozen.
99% of the world’s freshwater is
located at the two polar regions
as ice or glaciers.
Moving Water
 Each stream of water, of melting ice
or moving water that joins a larger
body of water is called a tributary;
 tributary – a stream that flows into
a larger stream or lake
 load – the materials carried by a
stream
Moving Water
Organisms that live in this
moving water must adapt to
being swept away by currents
just as the plankton and
benthos must adapt to tides in
the ocean.
Moving Water
As rivers grow wider carving
its own path in the Earth it
slows down and meanders
back & forth across the
landscape;
Moving Water
 erosion
– is the process by which
material is transported or removed;
(due to moving water from rivers and
streams)
 meander – rivers or streams that carve
their own path in the landscape
 oxbow lake – rivers or streams that
have broken off from its original main
river source due to deposition of
sediment;
Moving Water
 delta – a fan-shaped place where the
sediment from other rivers and small
bodies of water deposit material at the
mouth of a stream; Moving water ends up
join other rivers or streams until it reaches
a larger body of water, (Gulf, Sea, or
Ocean)
 watershed – area of land drained by a water
system (drainage basin- Dog River
Watershed)
 Abiotic Factors – all non-living things
in an ecosystem – temperature,
precipitation, wind, (measurable
factors)
 Biotic Factors – all living things in an
ecosystem (flora, fauna, fungi)
Ponds, Lakes, Rivers, Springs
(Aquifers) and Streams
Freshwater is less than 1% salt
by Concentration
Most of the world’s supply of
freshwater is actually frozen. 99%
of the world’s freshwater is located
at the two polar regions as ice or
glaciers.
Still Water
Still Water
1. Is different from rivers and
streams, there is no current, and
 no circulation of water. There are
no tides or crests;
Ponds and Lakes
 Ponds & Lakes- have three basic
environments
 1st zone: Littoral Zone - the zone closest
to the edge of the land
 home to floating leaf plants, , and
weeds that grow beneath the water;
frogs, fish, snakes and turtles live in
this zone.
nd
2
zone
 Limnetic
Zone – zone extends
from the littoral zone across the
top of the water;
 phytoplankton are found here,
along with a variety of fish
species and marine life which
rely on photosynthesis to live
rd
3
Zone
 Profundal
Zone – this is the deep
water zone of a lake or pond;
 no light reaches the bottom;
 catfish, worms, fungi and
bacteria live here that feed off of
the remains of other decaying
organisms that sink to the
bottom
Swamp & Marshes– Florida
Everglades