Download Ecology Fresh and Marine water Ecosystems teacher notes 2016

Ecology Fill in the Blank Notes
Freshwater and Marine Biomes
Voc. List: Aquatic Biomes, Plankton, Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Nekton, Benthos, Detritus, Freshwater Biomes, Standing-Water
Ecosystem, Wetlands, Glacial lake, Barrier lake, Crater lake, Tectonic lake, Flowing-Water Ecosystem, Rhizoids, Sediments, Estuary,
Marine Biome, Hypersaline Lakes, Salt Marshes, Photic zone, Disphotic zones, Aphotic zones, Eurythermal zone, Disthermal zone,
Sunlit Layer, Thermocline Layer, Deep Thick Layer, Salinity, Pelagic zone, Neritic zone, Oceanic zone, Intertidal Littoral zone,
Supralittoral zone, Sublittoral zone, Bathyal zone, Benthic zone, Nekton zone, zooxanthellae, Filter feeders
Characteristics of Aquatic Ecosystems
Organisms are categorized by their location and by their adaptations.
Three groups:
1.
Plankton are marine algae and animals that drift with the currents. Most are microscopic like Diatoms but some are as big a
Portuguese man-of-war
Two types:
 Phytoplankton: plant-like plankton (producers)
 Zooplankton: animal-like plankton (consumers)
2.
Nekton are animals that actively swim. Example: Blue whale is the largest animal (averaging between 21-23 meters)
3.
Benthos (bottom-dwellers) are algae, animals, and plants living on the ocean floor or near the ocean floor.
Examples:
 Horseshoe Crabs (shallow waters)-have changed very little over the last 250 million years. They tolerate temperature
changes and salinity ranges and can live without food for up to a year.
 Coral (shallow waters)
 Giant tube worms (Deep water)
 Detritus are tiny pieces of dead organic matter that are food for organisms at the base of an aquatic food
web such as coral and sponges
The amount of dissolved salts in a sample of water is called salinity
 Measured in parts per thousand
 There is salt in fresh water but only a little
 0.5 parts per thousand
Aquatic Biomes
 Nearly 75% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. It is the largest part of the biosphere and without water most
life could not exist. There is a large diversity of aquatic plants and animals large and small in size some even
microscopic in nature. There are two basic forms of aquatic biomes:
I. Freshwater (wetlands, ponds, lake, rivers, and streams)
Divided into two main types-standing and flowing-water ecosystems
 Lakes, ponds and wetlands (marsh, swamp, bogs): standing-water ecosystems
 Wetlands-in general are ecosystems in which the roots of plants are submerged under water at least part
of the year
 Very important for the biosphere because they act as filters, detoxifying chemicals in the water that
passes through them.
 Important in breeding, feeding, resting grounds, for migratory water fowl, such as ducks, great blue
heron, and geese, and habitat for commercial fish and shellfish such as oysters and clams
 Provides a habitat for rare, threatened, and endangered species
 Wetlands along the banks of rivers act as flood protection regions
 Buffer shorelines against erosion
 Lots of recreational activities such as fishing, bird watching, and photography
 Wetlands are being destroyed by man because of urban development, recreational use, and pollution
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Types of Standing-Water Ecosystems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Body of water
Lake
Glacial lakes-formed by the action of glaciers
Barrier lakes-formed by landslides or glacial
tills that block streams or rivers
Crater lakes-Water that filled up a crater
from a volcano
Tectonic lakes-Water that filled up a rift
valley
 Lake Baikal in Russia is the world’s
oldest lake (650 km long and 80 km
wide)
Artificial lakes-formed by animals (including
humans). Depressions in in the land or from
dams
Pond
Marsh
Swamp
Bog
Abiotic Factors
Deepest; may have an
aphotic zone; may be fed
by groundwater aquifers.
Biotic Factors
Main producers are floating algae in
the photic zone and benthic plants
along the shoreline; complex food
webs.
Light reaches benthic
zone; fed mostly by
rainfall; may be seasonal.
Very shallow water with
land occasionally exposed;
soil is saturated, water
often lacks oxygen; may be
freshwater, saltwater, or
brackish; often tidal;
Florida Everglades is the
largest freshwater marsh
in the United States.
Land is soaked with water
because of poor drainage;
usually along low
streambeds and flat land;
mangrove swamps are
salty and found along
coastlines.
Inland wetland with little
inflow or outflow; soil is
acidic; decay is slow;
carbon is stored in dead
plants.
Main producers are plants and algae
that grow on the bottom; food web
usually simpler than in lakes.
Plants have roots under water, but
leaves are above the water
(emergent); mostly grasses, cattails,
and rushes; ducks, waterfowl, and
benthic animals are common.
Dominated by large trees and shrubs;
plants are adapted to grow in muddy,
oxygen-poor soil; cypress trees
common in the south, willow and
dogwood common in the northern
United States.
Sphagnum moss is the dominant
organism; partly decayed moss
accumulated as peat.
Most lakes, rivers, ponds are freshwater but there are exceptions
 Great Salt Lake in Utah and Mono Lake in California
 They are saltier than the oceans: 40 parts per thousands
 Called hypersaline lakes
Rivers, streams, creeks, and brooks: flowing-water ecosystems
 Near the headwaters rootlike rhizoids are used to anchor organisms like mosses to rocks
 Organisms include many types of fish such as salmon and catfish
 Stream-flow causes erosion
 Sediments are small particles that settle on the bottom of these bodies of water from erosion
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II. Marine (estuaries, oceans, and coral reefs)
 In the ocean water the salinity the average is 35 parts per thousand
A Salt Marsh is a flat, muddy wetlands that often surround estuaries, bays, and lagoons
 There are salt marshes as well as fresh-water marshes
 Most are influenced by tides
 When inundated by sea level rises it can reduce habitat available and eliminate the flood protection of the
upland areas. –Caused by climate and weather cycles
 Very common in the east coast of the United States and the shores of the Gulf of Mexico
 Role: Supporting migratory bird populations
 Estuary marshes can sequester carbon and filter out toxic chemicals or nutrients from groundwater.
An estuary is a region where a freshwater source, usually the mouth of a river, meets the salt water of the ocean.
 Estuaries are interconnected with the world’s oceans and with major systems and cycles on the Earth.
 Food webs, nutrient cycles, and the water cycle
 Affected by air quality and precipitation from far beyond their watershed boundaries.
 It functions as buffer zones, filtering sediments and pollutants from the water
 It also eases the effects of storms and floods by slowing the flow of water
 Continuously changing the path of water flow and vegetation areas
 Estuaries support an abundance of life, and a diversity of habitat types.
 Vital nursery and spawning area for many fish, invertebrates, and plants
 Lots of commercial fishing, oyster reefs, salt marshes, mangroves, mud flats, and even freshwater tidal
marshes
 Estuaries provide a rich food source for many organisms
Chesapeake Bay Estuary
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest and most productive marine ecosystem in the United States.
 It receives fresh water from many tributaries ranging from large rivers to thousands of smaller creeks.
 All the land that drains water into the Bay is the estuary’s watershed.
 The Chesapeake watershed includes six states and the District of Columbia: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West
Virginia, and New York
 50 % of the fresh water that flows into the Bay comes from the Susquehanna River at the Bay’s northern end
 The bay is home to nearly 300 species of fish including important commercial species such as striped bass, bluefish, summer
flounder, American eel, and Atlantic menhaden.
 This bay is famous for its blue crab and oysters.
Estuaries across the globe have similar characteristics and threats. Below is a list of characteristics and organisms:
1. SAV-Submerged Aquatic Vegetation: These plants are sources of food for shellfish, finfish, birds, amphibians, reptiles,
invertebrates, and mammals.
a. SAV provide nurseries for young fish.
b. The plants trap sediment by slowing water currents. This causes the suspended particles (sediments) to drop to
the bottom
c. They are very sensitive to clarity changes in the water.
d. Decreases in clarity and/or eutrophication can harm SAVs-they need the light
2. Wetlands: The high primary productivity in the wetlands fuels food webs.
a. Wetlands are a source of food and shelter for juvenile aquatic organisms and filter sediment, nutrients, and
contaminates.
b. They are important to the carbon and nitrogen cycles.
c. Wetlands are important habitats for birds, reptiles, mammals, and invertebrates and protect the land from eroding
and flooding,
3. Filter feeders: These organisms filter suspended particles to obtain food by straining the water.
a. Anything not eaten is bound with mucus and discarded.
b. The heavier waste pellets fall to the bottom.
c. If not consumed by decomposers, sediment covers the organic material, becoming a natural sink.
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4.
5.
6.
Pit-Stops for Migratory Birds: The North American migratory flyways describe the routes followed by migratory birds.
a. Though the routes vary with each species, they often intersect at estuaries.
b. Estuaries are important stop-overs for the birds to rest and eat so they can refuel from their long journeys.
Habitat for Endangered Species: Estuaries and their tributaries often sheltered habitats for species now endangered of
becoming extinct like sea turtles and manatees.
Natural, Economic, and Aesthetic Values: The sheltered access to the sea offers people commercial and recreational
fishing, boating, tourism, and other coastal industries.
a. Estuaries provide spawning and nursery grounds for commercial fisheries.
The Role of Aquatic Plants
There are three types of aquatic plants in the Chesapeake Bay: floating plants, emergent plants, and submerged aquatic vegetation
1. Floating plants have roots that dangle in the water or anchor in the bottom sediment.
a. Long stems allow the leaves to float on the water’s surface.
b. Water lilies and water hyacinths are commonly seen
2. Emergent plants are rooted at the water’s edge, but their stems and leaves grow above the surface of the water.
a. Cattails, cord grass, and rushes are examples.
3. Submerged aquatic vegetation are critical for maintaining the cycle of gases in the water through the process of
photosynthesis.
a. There are more than 15 dominant species of SAV in the Chesapeake Bay such as Eelgrass, Horned Pondweed,
Muskgrass, and Wild Celery.
b. SAV are important food source to ducks, fish, muskrats, beavers, turtles, and a large number of invertebrates.
c. SAV slows the movement of water and that causes suspended particles to fall to the bottom.
d. Roots hold the particles in place.
Challenges to Estuaries
Clarity/Turbidity is based on the amount of phytoplankton growth and the concentration of nutrients. It also determines the degree
of Eutrophication in aquatic environments. (Eutrophication increases the amount of nitrogen and phosphates in the water.)




Four types
Oligotrophic-clear and little sediment
Mesotrophic-somewhat cloudy and more nutrients and sediments than Oligotrophic
Eutrophic-cloudy, high nutrient concentrations and biological activity
Hypereutrophic- murky and extremely high productive waters that many clear water species can’t survive
Dissolved Oxygen is essential to aquatic life
 As water flows over the gills of an aquatic animal, dissolved oxygen is absorbed and enters its bloodstream
 The blood carries the oxygen to every cell of its body for the process of cellular respiration
 This is how the animal uses the energy obtained from eating
 Lower levels of dissolved oxygen in warmer water than cold water
 Dead zones do not contain enough dissolved oxygen for most organisms-organisms suffocate
 Can occur during algal blooms caused by eutrophication
 As bacteria break down and decompose phytoplankton, they consume dissolved oxygen leading the
decreased oxygen for the rest of the organisms-leads to explosion of algal bloom
pH, temperature, and other chemicals also affect all aquatic organisms.
Human activity can impact the estuaries by altering habits and polluting the water
Research and Restoration efforts
 The National Estuarine Research Reserve System gather scientific data in estuaries to keep track of the physical, chemical,
and biological aspects of estuaries
 Fisheries
 Managing Lands: Laws are being passed to limit or restrict wetland construction
 Replanting SAV
 Reducing Runoff of farming chemicals
 Aquaculture farming aquatic organisms underwater.
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
Provides seafood for the human market and reduces the need to catch wild specimens.
Oceans
Physical Properties of water
 Density of freshwater is 1.00 g/cm3
 Saltwater density varies from 1.02 to 1.03 g/cm3 and fresh water freezes at 0 oC or (32 oF)
 Cold water is denser than warm water and has more dissolved Oxygen than warm water
 The deeper the water the more dense it is
 Ice floats on liquid water because it is less dense (.98 to .99 g/cm3 )
What are the five oceans in order of largest to smallest?
Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctica (Southern Ocean), and the smallest is the Arctic Ocean
What is the difference between an ocean and a sea?
 An ocean is a huge body of water where a sea is smaller and partly or mostly landlocked
What is the cause for sea levels to rise and fall through the years?
 Sea level is the level of the oceans’ surfaces-In our area most of us live at or slightly above sea level
 The Earth has warm and cold periods of time. When ice ages occur it will freeze the water and the levels will decrease.
During interglacial periods it will be warmer and the ice will melt increasing sea levels.
 We are currently in a melting period
 The sea levels are rising at a rate of 1-2 mm per year
 Tectonic forces lift and lower the ocean floor. A rising ocean floor causes a rise in sea level and a sinking ocean floor causes
a drop in sea levels.
Ocean Zones
Classification by Light
1. Photic zone- Sunlit top layer of the ocean that extends in the tropics about 200 meters in depth (660 ft.) and in productive
mid-latitude water about 100 meters (330 ft.)
 Upper ½ is where most of biological productivity occurs called euphotic zone
2. Disphotic zone- very small amounts of light penetrates
3. Aphotic zone- lowest zone
 Dark
 90% of the space
 extends to the bottom
Classification by Temperature
1. Uppermost layer where temperature changes with seasons
 Eurythermal zone-usually missing in high latitudes
2. Most stable temperatures below the thermocline is the disthermal zone
Layers by Temperature
1. Sunlit-Layer with sunlight and the warmest
2. Thermocline-Only a little light and temperature varies and salinity increases
3. Deep thick layer-usually the coldest (except in underwater volcanic and hydrothermal vent areas) and greatest salinity
Classification by Location
Pelagic Zone-The Open Ocean
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2 subdivisions:
 Neritic zone(shallow) near the shoreline over the Continental Shelf (<600 ft. deep)
 Continental Shelf is the area between the shore and about 200 meters below the surface of the water.
 Oceanic zone (deep water) beyond the Continental Shelf
Further division by Light
 Epipelagic zone-Lit photic zone where photosynthesis occurs
 Mesopelagic zone-top of aphotic area little to not light
 Bathypelagic zone-deep and no light
 Abyssopelagic zone –water in trenches
 Hadalopelagic zone-deepest
Division from the Shoreline to the bottom
1. Intertidal littoral zone- Starts at the Shoreline and is the band of coast alternately covered and uncovered by tides.
 This area is constantly being pounded by the surf so organisms that live here adapt by either burrowing themselves in the
sand (like clams and crabs) or attaching themselves to the rocks (like barnacles)
2. Supralittoral zone-Splash zone
3. Sublittoral zone-Below splash zone and has further divisions
 Inner sublittoral-Ocean bottom near the shore
 Outer sublittoral-Ocean floor out to the edge of the Continental Shelf
4. Bathyal zone-Covers the sea bed on the slopes and down to great depths.
 Abyssal zone-The beginning where Abyssal plains are found
 Hadal zone-Where trench walls and ocean floors lie
5. Benthic zone-Deepest (floor bottom)
 The organisms seen depends on the depth
 In shallow water, sunlight reaches the benthic zone so plants can grow.
 Common freshwater benthic animals include zooplankton, snails, catfish, and turtles
 In deep ocean water there is no sunlight
 Animals can present special features like bioluminescence
 Some animals are so unique that they can live over a hundred years-Giant tubeworms
CORAL

There are hard and soft coral.

Only hard coral colonies form reefs.
 A reef is a natural structure built on a continental shelf.

Form in water that is high in salt (salinity), no more than 30 meters from the surface, and warm water near the equator.

Coral habitats contain the most diverse creatures and without the coral reefs millions of species of fish and other organisms
would be extinct.
 Rough 1/3 of all bony-fish live on or depend on coral reefs

The ecology of the coral reef is unique and fragile.
 The reef itself is made of the Calcium Carbonate skeletons of millions of tiny corals
 Only the top layer of the reef is alive.
 Corals depend on a symbiotic relationship with a form lf alga, called zooxanthellae that live inside the
tissue of the coral. The algae carry out photosynthesis and provide the coral with food.
 Human activities are harming the coral reefs-water pollution and reef structural damage
 Coral bleaching occurs when coral die
MANGROVE SWAMP

In the United States are for three of the 50 species of Mangrove trees abundant in Florida and the Florida Keys.

The species found in these areas are Red, Black, and White.

They form a unique ecosystem essential for certain organisms to live.
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
Each species has its unique way to protect itself and the environment for excess salt, provide a save haven for organisms,
and to reproduce.
The Mangrove Swamp provides a food chain resource and storm protection.
 The leaves on the trees last roughly a year before falling.
 The bacteria and fungus cause the leaves to decompose once in the water causing these leaves to form the base of the food
chain.
 After decomposing, this material provides food for the marine organism like crabs and shrimp.
 From there larger organisms eat the crabs and other smaller creatures.
 These trees also provide protection from waves and winds produced by storms.
 This buffer system reduces winds and harmful waves that would erode the area.
The structures of the Mangroves provide everything it needs to balance it ecosystem.
 The Mangroves all have leathery evergreen leaves, some type of root system, and fruit.
 For a Mangrove swamp ecosystem to work the falling leaves from the trees and their roots themselves have to create a
barrier between the land and water.
 This system allows small organisms the protection they need from larger organism that can’t get through the barrier and it
also allows the mangrove trees to filter out the salt so the salinity levels will not get too high.
 In addition, the fruit from the mangroves also has the ability to germinate and form roots quickly.
Problems for Aquatic ecosystems:
 Pollution
 Overfishing
 Areas being overtaken by water due to Global warming
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Power points
Creatures of the Deep
Mangrove Swamp
Our Seashores
Ocean Environments
Marine Life
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