Aquatic Ecosystems

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Aquatic Ecosystems

• Unit 4 (Ch 4)

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Watersheds

• A region drained by or contributes to a stream,
  lake, or other body of water
• Also called a drainage basin
• Large watersheds are broken into smaller
  sub-watersheds
• Anything that happens on the land in a watershed
  can affect the quality of the water that it
  empties into
• As well as the organisms that live there

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PA Watersheds

• All the freshwater in PA eventually drains into
  the Atlantic Ocean
• There are 5 major watersheds in PA which are
  broken down into 104 sub-watersheds

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Great Lakes Basin

• Only 1 of this lies in PA
• The Conneaut, Elk and Walnut Creeks (in PA) all
  empty into Lake Erie

PA areas
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Ohio River Basin

• 2nd largest watershed in PA
• Covers 16,000 square miles of the state
• Contains the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers along with
  some others in the western part of PA

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Susquehanna/Chesapeake Basin

• Largest watershed in PA
• Contains the Susquehanna River (which starts in
  NY)
• Empties into the Chesapeake Bay which flows into
  the Atlantic Ocean

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Potomac Basin

• Only about 1 of the state is in this watershed
  even though the Potomac River is not
• The Shenandoah River is a tributary (feeder) into
  the Potomac

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Delaware Basin

• Covers 6,500 square miles in PA
• 3rd largest watershed in PA
• Much of the water from the Delaware River and its
  tributaries empty into the Hudson basin which
  provides most of the drinking water for New York
  City

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Freshwater Ecosystems

• Divided into two groups
• Lotic relatively fast moving water
• Rivers, streams, brooks, creeks and human-made
  channels
• Lentic relatively slow moving water
• Lakes, ponds, and wetlands
• What is the difference between a lake and a pond?
  
• Lakes? larger, too deep for plants to root
• Pond? smaller, shallow enough for rooted plants
  to grow across the bottom

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Streams

• Streams are classified by their size
• Sometimes called creeks or brooks
• First order stream- smallest
• Second order form when two first order streams
  meet
• This area of meeting is called a confluence
• Third order a confluence of two second order
  streams
• This process continues until the stream empties
  into a larger body of water

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Arrows show areas of confluence- where streams
meet to make larger streams before emptying into
larger bodies of water
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Floodplains

• Areas of flat land along a stream or river that
  is periodically flooded
• These areas contain organisms that are adapted to
  living in wetter ecosystems
• Amphibians, algae, insects thrive in these
  ecosystems

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Aquatic Habitats

• Surface Film ? place where water meets the air
• Organisms found here are mostly insects
• Open Water ? area where rooted plants do not
  reach the surface of the water
• Organisms include large fish, turtles, and birds
• Bottom ? are of rocks, sand or mud that is the
  habitat for small organisms
• Bacteria, snails, worms, sponges, crayfish and
  larvae or insects
• Waters Edge ? where water meets the land
• Greatest number of plants and animals found here

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Surface Film Bottom
Open Water Waters Edge
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Checkpoint

• What characteristic is used to classify a body of
  water as a lake or a pond?
• Which aquatic habitat would contain the largest
  variety of organisms?
• How does a watershed form?

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Answers

1. Depth and the ability of plants to take root
2. The waters edge. It would have plants and
   animals from the land and aquatic ecosystem
3. A watershed forms where ever the majority of
   water in an area drains into.

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Marine Ecosystems

• Water with high salt content
• Life depends on temperature and amount of
  sunlight

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Zones of the Oceans
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Estuaries

• Salt water wetland
• Place where fresh water from rivers meets salt
  water from oceans
• Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay
• Most bay areas and harbors

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Adaptations

• Estuaries are very productive (lots of organic
  matter)
• Lots of sunlight and nutrients available
• Large populations of plants that are rooted into
  the mud
• Lots of phytoplankton (microscopic plants) and
  zooplankton (microscopic animals)
• Organisms are able to tolerate variations in
  salinity (salt content) and depth
• Some animals- dolphin, manatees, oysters, clams,
  variety of fish

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Threats

• Pollution- sewage, industrial waste, agricultural
  runoff
• Ship waste, oil
• Development- adds to pollution and overfishing

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Coral Reefs
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Coral Reefs

• Corals- small marine animals that live on a
  limestone skeleton they create
• Small polyps anchor to an area, release limestone
  (calcium carbonate) and form amazing reefs
• Found only in warm, tropical salt water
• Have a mutualistic relationship with some algae
  that helps maintain reefs
• They need light for photosynthesis

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Adaptations

• There are very few plants in coral reefs- they
  need shallow water and warm temperatures
• Corals are predators- they have stinging
  tentacles that catch plankton or fish that swim
  too close
• Other animals are adapted to specific habitats
  with in the reef
• There are many mutualistic relationships in reefs

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Bulldozer shrimp and goby fish mutualistic
relationship
Sea anemone and clownfish
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Threats

• Pollution
• Change in water temperature (global warming)
• Sedimentation
• Too much sediment from rivers, block sunlight so
  algae die and smother corals

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Dead coral reef in Indonesia
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The Ocean

• Ocean cover about 75 of the earths surface
• Most ocean life is in shallow waters near coasts
• There, sunlight is plentiful and lots of
  nutrients from land and river runoff

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Plant Adaptations

• Plants are only found around shores and where
  sunlight reaches
• Phytoplankton is main source of food for
  herbivores in open ocean

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Animal Adaptations

• Smallest herbivores- zooplankton
• Include jelly fish, tiny shrimp, fish larvae
• Dozens of fish feed on zooplankton
• Fish bodies are shaped for movement through the
  water
• Camouflage
• Deep ocean- mutualistic relationship with
  bacteria for bioluminescence to occur

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Threats to the Oceans

• Pollution
• Overfishing
• Global warming

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Polar Regions

• Ice covered polar caps of the North and South
  Poles
• Nearly all food is provided by phytoplankton
• No plants

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The Arctic (N)

• No land
• The arctic is made up of massive frozen part of
  the Arctic Ocean surrounded by floating icebergs
• Food web relies on phytoplankton which provides
  food for many fish
• Whales, seals, penguins and polar bears are some
  organisms that make their homes here

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Antarctic (S)

• Only continent never settled by humans
• Is governed by an international commission and is
  only used for research
• Plankton is base of food web
• Fish, whales, penguins and other birds are some
  organisms found here

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Threats

• Mineral and Oil extraction