Aquatic Biomes

1
Aquatic Biomes
2
Freshwater

• Ponds Lakes
• Streams Rivers
• Wetlands
• Freshwater is defined as having a low salt
  concentrationusually less than 1
• Plants and animals in freshwater regions are
  adjusted to the low salt content and would not be
  able to survive in areas of high salt
  concentration (i.e, ocean)

3
FreshwaterPonds and Lakes

• Range in size from just a few square meters to
  thousands of square kilometers
• Ponds may be seasonal, lasting just a couple of
  months (such as sessile pools)
• Lakes may exist for hundreds of years or more

4
FreshwaterPonds and Lakes

• Divided into three different zones determined
  by depth and distance from the shoreline
• Littoral zone
• Limnetic zone
• Profundal zone

5
FreshwaterPonds and Lakes

• Littoral zone
• This area is near the shore and is the warmest
  since it is shallow and can absorb more of the
  Suns heat
• Very diverse area of organisms including plant,
  crustaceans and algae
• Vegetation and
• animals living in
• the littoral zone
• are food for other
• creatures such as
• turtles, snakes,
• and ducks

6
FreshwaterPonds and Lakes

• Limnetic zone
• Near-surface open water surrounded by the
  littoral zone
• Well-lighted (like the littoral zone) and is
  dominated by plankton, both phytoplankton and
  zooplankton
• Plankton are small
• organisms that
• play a crucial role
• in the food chain
• most life would
• not be possible
• without them

7
FreshwaterPonds and Lakes

• Profundal zone
• Plankton have short life spanswhen they die,
  they fall into the deep-water part of the
  lake/pond
• Much colder and denser than the other two
• Little light penetrates all the way through the
  limnetic zone into the
• profundal zone

8
FreshwaterStreams and Rivers

• Bodies of flowing water moving in one direction
• Found everywherethey get their start at
  headwaters, which may be springs, snowmelt or
  even lakes
• Travel all the way to the mouths of another water
  channel or the ocean

9
FreshwaterStreams and Rivers

• Towards the middle part of the stream/river, the
  width usually increases, as does species
  diversitynumerous aquatic green plants and algae
  can be found

10
FreshwaterWetlands

• Wetlands are areas of standing water that support
  aquatic plants
• Marshes, swamps, and bogs are all considered
  wetlands
• Highest species diversity of all ecosystems

11
Marine

• Oceans
• Coral Reefs
• Estuaries
• Cover about three-fourths of the Earths surface
• Evaporation of the seawater provides rainwater
  for the land

12
MarineOceans

• Largest of all the ecosystems
• Dominate the Earths surface
• Richest diversity of species even though it
  contains
• fewer species
• than there are
• on land

13
MarineOceans

• Separate zones
• Intertidal
• Where the ocean meets the land
• Sometimes submerged and at other times exposed
• Pelagic
• Waters further from the
• land, basically the open
• ocean
• Generally cold

14
MarineOceans

• Separate zones
• Abyssal
• 4000m to the sea floor
• Only zone deeper than this is the hadal zone
• Home to pretty inhospitable living conditions
• Near- freezing temperatures
• Crushing pressures

15
MarineCoral Reefs

• A structure formed by coral polyps, tiny animals
  that live in colonies.
• Coral polyps form a hard, stony, branching
  structure made of limestone.
• New polyps attach to old coral and gradually
  build the reef.

16
MarineCoral Reefs

• Atolls
• Ring-shaped islands of coral in open sea
• Form on submerged mud banks or volcano craters
• Surround a seawater lagoon
• Channels connect lagoon to the sea

17
MarineCoral Reefs

• Fringing reefs
• Submerged platforms of living coral extending
  from the shore into the sea
• Barrier reefs
• Follow the shore but are separated from it by
• water
• Great Barrier Reef is worlds largest

18
MarineCoral Reefs

• Usually found near land in shallow, warm salt
  water
• Lots of light
• Tropical temperatures, averaging 70-85 F
• Most coral cannot survive below 65 F

19
MarineCoral Reefs

• Major threats to coral reefs include
• Ocean pollution
• Dredging off the coast
• Coral bleaching
• Caused by the expulsion of
• the symbiotic algae needed
• for the coral to grow

20
MarineEstuaries

• Enclosed body of water formed where freshwater
  from rivers and streams flows into the ocean,
  mixing with the salty sea water
• Estuaries are extremely fertile because nutrients
  are brought in by rivers
• and recycled from the
• bottom because of the
• turbulence.

21
MarineEstuaries

• Estuaries are sometimes called marine nurseries
  
• habitats for many juvenile organisms, especially
  for fishes
• many fish are born and grow up in estuaries
• migrate to the open ocean

22
MarineMangroves

• Mangroves are large woody trees with a dense,
  complex root system that grows downward from the
  branches
• Mangroves are the dominant plant of the tropical
  and subtropical intertidal area