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Aquatic Ecosystems

Aquatic Ecosystems. 4 things determine aquatic ecosystems:. Depth Flow Temperature Chemistry. Only 3% of the Earth’s surface is fresh water. Two types of freshwater ecosystems:. Flowing water ecosystems. Standing water ecosystems. Flowing Water Ecosystems. Rivers Streams Creeks

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Aquatic Ecosystems

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  1. Aquatic Ecosystems

  2. 4 things determine aquatic ecosystems: • Depth • Flow • Temperature • Chemistry

  3. Only 3% of the Earth’s surface is fresh water.

  4. Two types of freshwater ecosystems:

  5. Flowing water ecosystems

  6. Standing water ecosystems

  7. Flowing Water Ecosystems • Rivers • Streams • Creeks • Brooks

  8. Animals that live in Flowing –Water ecosystems:

  9. Catfish

  10. Trout

  11. Turtles

  12. Beavers

  13. River Otters

  14. Standing Water Ecosystems • Lakes • ponds

  15. Plankton • General term for the tiny, free-floating or weakly swimming organisms that live in both fresh and salt water environments. • Phytoplankton – single celled photosynthetic algae • Zooplankton – small animals, usually microscopic, that feed on the phytoplankton.

  16. Wetlands • Wetlands are productive because they are shallow with a lot of organic plant matter in the water that serves as breeding grounds for insects, fishes and other aquatic animals, amphibians, and migratory birds.

  17. Wetland Bogs • Form in depressions left by sheets of ice. • Thick mats of sphagnum moss grow and the bogs tend to be very acidic.

  18. Bog Finds • Many ancient bodies are preserved in the acidic / oxygen free bogs. • This man found in 1950 is estimated to be over 2000 years old.

  19. Venus Flytrap Pitcher Plants

  20. Wetland Marshes are shallow wetlands along streams that remain wet at least half the year.

  21. Sawgrass marsh in the Everglades

  22. Wetland Swamps • Wet year round • Often look like flooded forests with trees and shrubs.

  23. Okefenokee Swamp

  24. Estuaries are wetlands formed where rivers meet the sea. They contain a mixture of fresh and salt water.

  25. Estuaries • Freshwater and saltwater mix - brackish

  26. Estuary Examples • Salt marshes: temperate zone estuaries dominated by salt-tolerant grasses above the low tide line, and by seagrasses under water. • Mangrove swamps are coastal wetlands that are widespread across tropical regions, including southern Florida and Hawaii.

  27. Salt Marsh

  28. Marine Ecosystems • Contain salt water • Photic zone: well lit upper layer down to 200 meters where algae and other producers can grow. • Aphotic zone: permanently dark area where no photosynthetic organisms live, but some chemosynthetic organisms live.

  29. Marine zone based on depth of water & distance from shore: • Intertidal zone • Coastal ocean • Open ocean

  30. Tides • The portion of the shoreline that lies between the high and low tide lines is called the intertidal zone.

  31. Intertidal zone • Barnacles • Seaweed • Snails • Sea urchins • Sea stars

  32. Intertidal Zone

  33. Coastal ocean • Kelp forests • Snails • Sea urchins • Sea otters • Fishes • Seals • whales

  34. Coral Reefs • Corals are relatives to the jellyfish that secrete a hard substance called calcium carbonate. • They live in symbiosis with algae contained within the body of each coral animal. • Almost all grow within 40 meters of the surface.

  35. Coral Reefs

  36. Open Ocean • Begins at the edge of the continental shelf and extends outward. • Largest marine zone • 500 meters to 11,000 meters. • Swordfish, octopus, dolphins, whales

  37. Plankton • Small organisms that live in the waters of the photic zone. • phytoplankton–microscopic plants and bacteria • zooplankton–microscopic animals

  38. Benthic Zone • Ocean floor • Organisms that live near or attached to the bottom • Sea stars, anemones, marine worms – all referred to as benthos. • Clams, sea cucumbers

  39. Harris Neck NWR

  40. Baby Alligator

  41. Sapelo Island

  42. Sapelo Island - Blackbeard

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