Transcript Aquatic Biomes

Aquatic Biomes
Water on the Earth
Land
22%
Water
78%
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75% - 78% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water
How much freshwater?
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Of all the water
available on Earth…
 Only 3% is freshwater
 Of the 3% freshwater,
2% is tied up in
glaciers and
icebergs…
 Only leaving less than
1% available to
humans.
1%
2%
97%
Types of Life in An
Aquatic Biome
What factors influence the kind of
life an aquatic biome contains?
 Salinity
 Depth
(Sunlight)
 Speed of water flow
 Dissolved oxygen levels
Major types of aquatic biomes
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Salt Water
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Estuaries**
Coastlines
Coral Reefs
Coastal Marshes**
Mangrove Swamps**
Oceans
** May be brackish
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Fresh Water
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Streams
Rivers
Lakes
Ponds
Wetlands (inland)
Limnology
The study of fresh water and its ecosystems
The study of freshwater ecosystems can be
divided into 2 systems
1. Lentic – standing water
(little or no current)
2. Lotic – flowing water
Examples of Lentic Systems
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Standing water
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Lakes
Ponds
Wetlands
• Marshes
• Swamps
• bogs
Lakes
 Oligotrophic:
poorly nourished
 Eutrophic: richly nourished
Examples of Lotic Systems
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Moving water
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Rivers
Streams
Life Found in Aquatic
Systems
Phytoplankton
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“Plant Plankton”
Free Floating
Microscopic
Cynobacteria or algae
Producers
Contain cholorphyll photosynthetic
Support most aquatic
food chains and food
webs
Did you know????
•Plants in the ocean produce over half the world's oxygen.
• The most important plants in the ocean are too small to
be seen without a microscope.
• They float near the surface and drift with the currents,
so they have been named phytoplankton (phyto=plant,
plankton=drifter).
• Phytoplankton are the 'grass' of the sea. Where they
grow there is food for marine animals.
• Ocean color tells you how much phytoplankton there is in
the water.
Zooplankton
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“Animal Plankton”
Non-photosynthetic
Consumers (herbivores)
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Feed on phytoplankton
Single Celled Protozoa to
larger invertebrates such
as jellyfish
Many zooplankton are
larval stages of familiar
animals
Strong Swimmers
Consumers
Fish, turtles, Whales
Nekton
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Bottom Dwellers
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Benthos
Anchor to one spot:
barnacles, oysters
Burrow in mud or sand:
worms
Walk on bottom: Lobsters,
crabs
Habitats:
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Intertidal zones, rocky
shores, tide pools
Muddy Sandy communities
Deep ocean/ coral reefs
Hydrothermal vent areas
• archaebacteria
Decomposers
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Break down organic
compounds into
simple nutrients that
can be used by
producers
 Break down dead
bodies and waste
Characteristics of an
Aquatic Biome
 Have
less pronounced and fixed physical
boundaries
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Makes it difficult to count and manage
populations
due to the size of the ocean and many
organisms are largely hidden from view
Catch and release
Acoustics used to measure Krill Populations
Tagging with electronic monitors
Characteristics of an Aquatic Biome
 Have
more complex and longer food
chains and food webs
Ocean Biomes
Sun
Euphotic Zone
Photosynthesis
Estuarine
Zone
Continental
shelf
Open
Sea
Sea level
Bathyal Zone
Abyssal
Zone
Darkness
High tide Coastal
Zone
Low tide
Fig. 6-5, p. 130
Biological Zones in the Open Sea:
Light Rules
 Euphotic
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Nutrient levels low, dissolved O2 high,
photosynthetic activity.
 Bathyal
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zone: dimly lit middle layer.
No photosynthetic activity, zooplankton and
fish live there and migrate to euphotic zone to
feed at night.
 Abyssal
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zone: brightly lit surface layer.
zone: dark bottom layer.
Very cold, little dissolved O2.
Advantages of living in
the ocean
Physical support from water
buoyancy
Organisms take
advantage of
water's buoyancy
to transport
themselves to
nearby or distant
habitats with little
energy
expenditure
Fairly constant temperature
Nourishment from dissolved
nutrients
Areas of pronounced upwelling
-Deep oceanic currents colliding with sharp coastal shelves
-Temperature differences / changes
-Surface Winds
Water Availability
 Oceans
cover 139,400,000 square miles
of the Earth’s surface
 The average depth of the oceans is
12,238 feet
Easy dispersement of organisms,
larvae and eggs
Water propulsion
Water propulsion
Hydrofoils - use of flippers
Up/Down movement of pectoral fins
 A big
difference between fish and dolphins
is that a fish's tail moves from side to side
and a dolphin's moves up and down.
The more slender the body shape,
the faster the movement
Advantages
 Less
exposure to harmful radiation
 Dilution and dispersion of pollutants
Disadvantages
 Can
tolerate a narrow range of
temperatures
 Exposure to dissolved pollutants
 Fluctuating populations size for many
species
 Dispersion separates many aquatic
offspring from parents
Why are oceans important?
71-75% of earth’s surface
 Make up 99.5% of earth’s habitable
volume
 Contain 250,000 known species of plant
and animals
 Provide important and ecological and
economic services
 Covers
Ecological Services
Ecological Services
 Climate
moderation
 Carbon dioxide absorption
 Nutrient cycling
 Reduced storm impact (mangrove
swamps, estuaries, barrier islands)
 Habitats and nurseries for species
(shrimp, crab, oysters, clams, fish)
 Genetic resources and biodiversity
Mangrove Swamps (Forest)
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Mangrove swamps
are found along
tropical seacoasts
on both sides of the
equator
Estuaries
Barrier Islands
Economic Services
Food
Pharmaceuticals
Algae: Astaxanthin is a powerful
natural antioxidant / dietary supplement
Transportation
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Ocean transport is the
backbone of internal
trade
Coastal Habitats and Employment
for Humans
Recreation
Offshore Oil and Natural Gas /
Minerals
Coastal Zones
What is a coastal zone?
 The
coastal zone is the warm, nutrient
rich, shallow water from high tide area on
land to the edge of the continental shelf.
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Contains 90% of all marine species
Site of most commercial fisheries
 Ample
supply of sunlight and nutrients
Estuaries / Coastal Wetlands
 Part
of coastal zone
 Brackish (mixture of salt and freshwater)
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Usually due to the movement of the tides
Salinity and temperature vary due to
• Daily tides
• Seasonal variations and its affect of water flow
• Unpredictable flows of water from flooding or
storms
 Constant
movement of nutrients due to
flow of water
Estuaries / Coastal Wetlands
 Covered
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with water all or part of the year
River mouths (delta’s)
Inlets
Bays
Sounds
Mangrove forest swamps
Salt marshes
Major life zones in an
ocean
Continental Rise
Oceans