WHAT REQUIREMENTS DO THE FISH IN THE AQUARIUM NEED TO

SURVIVE?

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF FISH FROM A LAKE WERE ADDED TO

THE AQUARIUM?

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS

FRESHWATER MARINE

FRESHWATER MARINE

A Q U A T I C E C O S Y S T E MSDetermined by salinity: amt of

dissolved salts the water contains

This results in two categories of ecosystems:

Freshwater and Marine

FRESHWATER MARINE WATER

Lakes & ponds = sluggish waters

Rivers & streams = moving waters

Wetland: land periodically underwater (marsh & swamp)

Coastal areas (marsh, swamp, coral reef)

Deep vast oceans

CHARACTERISTICS OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM

TEMPERATURESUNLIGHTOXYGENNUTRIENTS**Determines which organisms live in which

areas of the water

Organisms are grouped by their LOCATION & ADAPTATIONS

PLANKTON: organisms that float near surface of water

A. Phytoplankton=microscopic plantsB. Zooplankton= microscopic animals

NEKTON: free-swimming organisms (fish, turtles, whales)

BENTHOS: Bottom-dwelling organisms (mussels, worms, barnacles) * many live attached

to hard surfaces-sessile

LIFE IN A LAKEStructured into Horizontal & Vertical Zones

Littoral Zone: Near shore (Diverse & abundant life)

Pelagic (open) Water: Photosynthesis

Benthic Zone: Deep water no photosynthesis

ADAPTATIONS TO LIVE IN POND/LAKE

Whiskers help catfish sense food as they swim over dark lake bottoms

In areas where lakes partially

freeze, amphibians burrow into the littoral mud to avoid freezing temps

WATER MOLECULESSolid water (ice) is less dense

than liquid water (the opposite is true for almost every other substance)

If water didn’t have this unique property, little aquatic life would exist outside the tropics b/c in winter, ice would sink and lakes & ponds would freeze solid, killing aquatic organisms

THE GREAT LAKES(HOMES)

Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario - form the largest surface freshwater system on the Earth.

The Great Lakes hold 21 % of the world's surface fresh water.

More than 30 million people live in the Great Lakes basin, and the daily activities of these people, from the water consumed to the waste returned, directly affects the Great Lakes environment.

LAKE BAIKALLARGEST,DEEPEST,& CLEAREST

FRESHWATER LAKE Located in Siberia Largest Freshwater Lake

(~20% ) If able to pull plug on the lake it would take all the water in the Great Lakes to fill it again

Deepest -more than a mile in some places

Very clear-one can see 130 ft beneath surface

LAKE BAIKAL Surface temp ranging

from high 30s to low 60s OF

Entire lake frozen 5 months out of year

The word “Baikal” is thought to be derived from Kurykan, a language spoken by the local people around 1,300 years ago, which means “much water.”

CLEARNESS--Baikal epischura

Partially attributed to population of small crayfish;

which eats algae & other

particulates that would lower

visibility

FRESHWATER SEAL

Home to one of the

worlds few freshwater

seals species, Nerpa

NERPA FUN FACTSTo survive long swims under ice and deep

diving conditions, they have four more pints of blood than any other seal—enabling them to go without fresh air for 70 minutes!

And they are capable of diving to almost 1,000 feet below the water’s surface!

Their hidden dens are carved out of snow and ice, and are entered underwater from below the iced-over winter lake.

MORE FRESH OXYGEN Unlike all other deep lakes of the world where

the lower depths are dead, asphyxiated by hydrogen sulfide and other gases, Lake Baikal's deep waters are blanketed in fresh oxygen.

It has only been in the past five years that scientists have discovered thermal springs beating up from the bottom of Baikal.

The release of hot, oxygenated water from underwater vents mixed by two horizontal currents and by rising and falling vertical currents may explain why the water is alive with aquatic life.

Another Interesting AnimalExists exclusively

in these waters is a fish that composes much of the Nerpa’s diet, called a Golomyanka.

A translucent body and no scales, it is unusual in many ways.

Golomyanka A particularly fatty fish (up

to 30% of its body composed of oil), it is able to withstand high pressure from deep water, and also adapt to the much less-pressurized water closer to the surface

Contains so much fat that, if left out of water in the sunlight, it will “melt,” leaving only what appears to be a puddle of oil and a skeleton!

HOW NUTRIENTS AFFECT LAKES

EUTROPHICATION: increase in the amount of nutrients in an

aquatic ecosystem

IS THIS A NEGATIVE or POSITIVE THING?

Lakes naturally become eutrophic over a long period of time

However can be accelerated by humans

FERTILIZERS: Nitrogen & PhosphorusMore plants & bacteria growThey use the D.O.Eventually they reduce amt of O2 kills O2

loving organisms

F R E S H W A T E R W E T L A N D SAreas of land that are covered with

fresh water for at least part of the yearTwo main types:

MARSH: contain non-woody plants (cattails)

SWAMPS: woody plants (shrubs & trees)

Areas of land covered by water for at least part of the year

Include : MARSHES (non-woody plants)

& SWAMP ( woody plants)

Freshwater wetlands

WETLANDS WORLDWIDE

CLOSER TO HOME

Wetlands not always easy to identifyBased on water, soil, & vegetation

WATER: floods area consecutively for @ least 7.5% of growing season

SOIL: remains wet enough to create oxygen-poor conditions (hydric soil)

VEGETATION: adapted to growing in wet soil with little oxygen (hydrophylic)

M A R S H E S Occur on low, flat lands

Have little water movement

Several types-each characterized by salinity Brackish marsh=

slightly salty Salt Marsh= saltier

*Organisms adapted to range of salinity*

MARSH VEGETATIONShallow waters

plants- such as reeds, rushes, cattails -root themselves in rich bottom sediment

The leaves stick out above surface of water year-round

CATTAILS

R E E D SRUSHES

FAUNA IN A MARSH

Benthic zone-nutrient rich (plants, decomposers,

scavengers)

Water fowl & birds adapted beaks

Many migratory birds from temperate & tropical biomes

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W A T E R F O W L

S W A M P SOccur on flat, poorly drained land, often near streams

Latitude & climate determine which veg.; woody shrubs or water-loving trees

MANGROVE SWAMPS: occur in warm climates near ocean, therefore water is salty

F A U N A

M A N G R O V E

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONS of FRESHWATER WETLANDS

Act as filters- absorb & remove pollutants Therefore they improve water quality of

lakes, rivers, & reservoirs downstreamControl flooding by absorbing extra water when rivers overflow

Protects farms, residential, & urban areas from damage

Feeding and spawning areas for game fish

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONS of FRESHWATER WETLANDS

Provides a home for native & migratory wildlife Blue herons

Traps C that would otherwise b released as CO 2

Produce many important commercial products (cranberry)

HUMAN IMPACT ON WETLANDS

WETLANDS RESTORATION PROJECTS

FLORIDA EVERGLADES

EVERGLADES

DAMS & BEAVERS

RIVERS

Originate from snow melt in mountains HEADWATERS- cold, oxygen rich run swiftly, shallow riverbed DOWNSTREAM- warmer, less oxygen slower, deeper MOUTH- discharge into larger body

RIVERS