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Chapter 7

Chapter 7. Aquatic Ecosystems. Aquatic Ecosystems. The types of organisms in an aquatic ecosystem are mainly determined by the waters Salinity. Then t emperature, sunlight, oxygen and nutrients determine which organisms live in w hich areas of the water.

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Chapter 7

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  1. Chapter 7 Aquatic Ecosystems

  2. Aquatic Ecosystems • The types of organisms in an aquatic ecosystem are mainly determined by the waters Salinity. • Then temperature, sunlight, oxygen and nutrients determine which organisms live in which areas of the water. • Example: photosynthetic organisms live on, or near the surface. • Freshwater Ecosystems: lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, wetland (land that is underwater periodically). Some can be artificial (man or animal made) or natural. • Marine Ecosystems: Coastal areas of marshes, swamps, coral reefs, deep ocean.

  3. Characteristics of Aquatic Ecosystems • Organisms in aquatic ecosystems are grouped by their location and by their adaptations. • There are 3 groups of aquatic organisms: • Plankton • Nekton • Benthos

  4. Plankton • Plankton: organisms that cannot swim against current, they are drifters. • Drifting plants called phytoplanktonare the food base for most aquatic ecosystems. The majority are microscopic. • Drifting animals that can be microscopic or large as a jellyfish are called zooplankton.

  5. Nekton • Free swimming organisms such as fish, turtles and whales.

  6. Benthos • Bottom dwelling organisms such as mussels, worms and barnacles. • Many live attached to hard surfaces.

  7. Freshwater Ecosystems

  8. Lakes and Ponds • Nutrients and sunlight influence the location and types of organisms here. • Littoral Zone: near the shore, rich in nutrients. • Aquatic life is diverse and abundant. Plants are tooted in the mud underwater and upper leaves emerge. Plants with floating leaves. • Farther form shore, in open water, phytoplankton make their own food by photosynthesis. • Benthic Zone: Are so deep that there is too little light for photosynthesis. Bacteria and other decomposers live on dead plants and animals. Fish adapted to cool water, insect larvae and clams.

  9. Lakes and Ponds…. • Eutrophication: Increase in the amount of nutrients in aquatic ecosystems. • Eutrophic lake: a lake that has a large amount of algae and plants growth due to nutrients.

  10. Wetlands • Freshwater wetlands are areas of land that are covered with fresh water for at least part of the year. • Main types: • Marshes: contain non woody plants like “cattails”. • Swamps: are dominated by woody plants like trees and shrubs.

  11. Wetlands Importance • They absorb and remove pollutants form the water that flows through them. They improve water quality. • They control flooding by absorbing extra water when rivers are overflow protecting farms and urban and residential areas from damage. • Wetlands are feeding and spawning (egg laying and hatching) places. • They are home for native and migratory wildlife. • Wetland vegetation trap carbon that would otherwise be release as carbon dioxide linked to rising of atmospheric temperatures.

  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5GQ80mrjU8 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lLtfbde16A • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft_2nj96jLM

  13. Marshes • Like a swamp but dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species. The Everglades is the largest in the US. • They tend to occur on low, flat lands and have little water movement. • The benthic zones of marshes are nutrient rich and contain plants, decomposers, scavengers. • Salinity of marshes varies, some are almost as salty as the ocean. Organisms that live there adapt to the range of salinities of its water.

  14. Ducks have flat beaks adapted for sifting through the water for fish and insects. • Herons have spearlike beaks to grasp small fish and frogs.

  15. Swamps • On flat, poorly drained land, often near streams. • Species of trees and shrubs depend on the salinity of the water and climate of the area. Example, Mangroves are from swamps of tropical climate. • Ideal for many amphibians (frogs, salamanders). Also attract birds, reptiles (alligators).

  16. Human Impact on Wetlands • Used to be considered wastelands, breeding grounds for disease carrying insects, so many were drained, filled and cleared for farms or residential, commercial development. • The role of wetlands as purifiers of wastewater and in flood prevention is now recognized. • Wetlands are vital for wildlife. • Panamá Law prohibits Wetland (humedales) destruction but the Law is not implemented so we keep loosing it everyday.

  17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m7rD6KcuHA

  18. Rivers • Tend to be cold and full of oxygen. As it flows down it gets warmer and slower containing more vegetation and less oxygen. • They wash nutrients and sediment from surrounding land and affect the growth and health of the organisms in the river. • Plants: mosses anchor them selves with rhizoids. Arrowhead. • Animals: Trout, catfish, carp and minnows.

  19. Rivers in Danger • Communities and industries affect the health of rivers. Pollution. • People draw water from rivers to use in homes and manufacturing. • People also use rivers to dispose of their sewage and garbage. • Toxins kill river organisms and make it unsuitable for eating and drinking. • Runoff from the land puts pesticides and other poisons into rivers. • Dams alter ecosystems in and around the river.

  20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oIMrlvbaaY

  21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4PiVTUroCE

  22. Marine Ecosystems

  23. Marine Ecosystems • Marine Ecosystems contain salt water. • In open water the amount of sunlight and nutrients vary from one part of an ocean to the other. In coastal areas, the water level and salinity usually change during the day.

  24. Coastal Wetlands • Coastal Wetlands: Are covered by salt water for all or part of the time. • They provide habitat and nesting areas for many fish and wildlife. They absorb excess rain protecting areas from flooding. • They filter out pollutants and sediments. • They provide recreational areas for boating, fishing and hunting.

  25. Estuaries • Estuary: Area in which fresh water from a river mixes with salt water from the ocean. • They are very productive ecosystems because they constantly receive fresh nutrients from the river. • Many coastal wetlands form in estuaries. • When water mixes, nutrients fall into the bottom and are available to producers (marsh grass grow in the mud).

  26. ESTUARIES. PLANTS AND ANIMALS • They support many marine organism since they receive plenty of light for photosynthesis and nutrients for plants and animals. • Rivers supply nutrients that have been washed from the land. • The plankton here provide food for larger animals, such as fish. Other animals such as dolphins, manatees, otters feed on fish and plants from the estuaries. • Oysters, barnacles, clams live anchored to marsh grass or rocks.

  27. Estuaries • Fresh water mixes here with salt water. ORGANISMS IN ESTUARIES ARE ABLE TO TOLERATE VARIATIONS IN SALINITY. • They provide protected harbors, access to the ocean and connection to a river. • Most of the worlds mayor ports are built on estuaries. • 6 of the 10 of the largest urban areas in the world were built on estuaries. (Tokyo, NY, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Bombay.

  28. THREATS TO ESTUARIES • Often used as solid waste landfills. • Developed as building sites. • Pollutants that damaged estuaries are: sewage, industrial waste and agricultural runoff (algae bloom). • Estuaries can’t cope with the excessive amounts of pollutants produced by dense human populations…

  29. Viedo Estuaries • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLumSN4G5P4&list=PLjhAEGv0WXfkn5k75HlQlJ4cQKjFjrWEu

  30. Salt Marshes • They are formed in estuaries, where rivers deposit their load of mineral rich mud. • Salt marsh support a community of clams, fish, and aquatic birds. • Marsh are a nursery in which shrimps, crabs, and fishes find protection when they are small. As they grow they migrate to the sea and are eaten by larger fish. • Salt Marshes absorb pollutants and protect land areas.

  31. Mangrove Swamps • Species of trees adapted for growing in shallow salt water. • Mangrove provide habitat for about 2,000 animal species. • Most have wide, above ground root systems for support. • Dense growth of mangrove trees in swampy areas are called: mangrove swamps. Found in tropical and sub tropical zones. • Mangrove help protect coastline from erosion and reduce damage from storms. They provide habitat for about 2,000 animal species. • Mangrove have been filled with waste and used for development projects.

  32. Rocky and Sandy Shores • Rocky shores have many more plant and animal species than sandy shores do. • Rocks anchor seaweed and many animals live on it. Anemones, mussels, sponges. • Sandy shore life is less diverse. Animals are adapted to the effects of drying and exposure al low tide. • Birds eat animals that have not attached or buried. • Barrier islands, parallel to sand shores, help protect mainland and coastal wetlands from storms and ocean waves.

  33. Coral Reefs • Coral Reefs: animals called Coral Polyps and the algae that live inside them. • Coral secrete skeletons of calcium carbonate which slowly accumulate and form coral reefs. • Thousand of species of plants and animals live in the cracks of coral reefs, one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. • Reef building corals live only on warm salt water with enough light for photosynthesis, so they are in the clear tropical seas. • The polyps capture small animals that float or swim close to the reef.

  34. Reef in Danger • Coral Reefs are fragile ecosystems. Coral reefs grow slowly, it may take hundred of years to build. • If the water is too hot or cold for too long, if it´s muddy, pollute, or high in nutrients the algae that lives in corals will leave it or die, and the coral turns white (coral bleaching). Then Plants and Animals related to coral may die. • Human activities are causing more frequent bleaching events. • 50% of the coral reefs are now in danger of destruction. • Global warming, oils spills, polluting runoff = coral destruction. • Over fishing.

  35. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBgh_YmY4lU • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aX61LzmeYA • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbNeIn3vVKM

  36. Oceans • Sunlight penetrates about 100 m (330 ft), so most of oceans life concentrates in the shallow coastal water where sunlight is present and rivers wash nutrients form the land. • Seaweed and algae grow anchored to rocks and phytoplankton drift on the surface. Invertebrates and fish that feed on these plants also concentrate near the shore.

  37. Ocean. Plants and Animals • In the open ocean, phytoplankton grow only on areas where there is enough light and nutrients. So open ocean is one of the LESS productive of all ecosystems. • Phytoplankton have buoyancy devices, such as oil bubbles, that prevent them from sinking into deep water too dark for photosynthesis. • Zooplankton: eat phytoplankton (they are the smallest herbivores). Include jellyfish, tiny shrimp and larvae of fish and bottom dwelling animals like oysters and lobsters. • Fish and marine mammals feed on the plankton. • Deep ocean food consists on dead organisms that fall from the surface.

  38. Threats to the Ocean • Pollution, mostly from activities on land (runoff from fertilized fields cause algae booms, and some are poisonous). Waste from cities and industries, fertilizers, sewage running. • Overfishing and certain fishing methods are destroying some fish populations. Immense trawls nets can entangle organisms that are larger than the holes in the nets. Dolphins, breath air, can drown in the nets. Fish lines, nets, explosives, etc.

  39. Artic and Antarctic Ecosystems • Artic: North. Rich in nutrients from surrounding land masses. Large population of plankton. Fish are food for ocean birds, whales, seals and polar bears. • Antarctic: South. Is the only continent never colonized by humans. Even during summer only an few plants grow at rocky edges. Plankton nourish fish, whales and birds (like penguins).

  40. Galeta • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vuuYNs6hdY • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R0OQ2uZ2KE • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPCuOQqBles

  41. Videos • Coral reproduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnDJvhgPn8o • Live ocean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kj_vwleR6Q • Mangrove Bocas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfGABxCQ35Y • Life of Oceans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrJCITOT0H8

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