Aquatic Biome

• it makes up the largest part of the biosphere

• There are two main types of Aquatic Biomes: 1.Freshwater

2. Marine• High biodiversity

• The amount of dissolved materials present• The depth of water• The availability and quality of light• The nature of the bottom substrate• Water temperature and circulating System

Three Main Ecological Groups1. Plankton– organisms incapable of

swimming from current system to another current system (floating)

Two Major Categories 1. Phytoplankton- plant

plankton2. Zooplankton- animal

plankton

Three Main Ecological Groups

• 2. Nekton - stronger swimming

species that are capable of swimming between current system

Examples: fishes, squids and whales

Three Main Ecological groups

3. Benthos - attached organisms

or resting on bottom mostly filter feeders

Examples: seaweeds,

barnacles and lobsters

FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM

• It makes up only 0.01% of the worlds water and approximately 0.08% of earth’s surface

• Have a salt concentration of less than 1%,• Covers Ponds ,lakes streams and rivers

Two distinct categories of Freshwater Ecosystem

1. Lotic System - Running water - It includes streams and

rivers2. Lentic System - Calm water - includes Lakes and ponds

Streams and Rivers (LOTIC SYSTEM)

• These are bodies of flowing water moving in one direction

• has higher oxygen levels

3 DIFFERENT ZONES IN LOTIC SYSTEM

1. Littoral zone - shoreline, shallow

water region with light penetrating up to bottom with rooted plants

2. Limnetic - open water zone to

depth of effective light penetration

3. Profundal - bottom and deep

water area beyond effective light penetration ( absent in ponds)

In lotic system ….• Critical water velocity is

50 cm/sec

• Lotic food chains are detritus based

PONDS AND LAKES

• These regions range in size from just a few square meters to thousands of square kilometers.

• Ponds and lakes may have limited species diversity since they are often isolated from one another

Classification of Lake

1. Eutrophic lakes - well nourished lake - shallow - very poor visibility

2. Oligotrophic Lakes - a poorly nourished lake - Often deep w/ deep banks

3. Mesotrophic Lake - lake with moderate

supply -these are lakes that fall

between ntwo extreme of nutrient enrichment

WETLANDS

• Wetlands are areas of standing water that support aquatic plants

• Many species of amphibians, reptiles, birds (such as ducks and waders), and furbearers can be found in the wetlands

MARINE ECOSYSTEM

• The largest of all the ecosystems• Oceans are very large bodies of water that

dominate the Earth's surface. • Ocean contains the richest diversity of species

even though it contains fewer species than there are on land.

4 ZONES

1. Intertidal zone - is where the ocean

meets the land — sometimes it is submerged and at other times exposed, as waves and tides come in and out

2. Pelagic zone -includes those

waters further from the land, basically the open ocean

3. Benthic zone - is the area

below the pelagic zone, but does not include the very deepest parts of the ocean

4.Abyssal zone -deep ocean -The water in this

region is very cold (around 3° C), highly pressured, high in oxygen content, but low in nutritional content

CORAL REEFS

• Sometimes called “Tropical Rainforest of the Ocean”

• They can be found as barriers along continents

• Highly diverse in species

3 TYPES OF CORAL REEFS

1. FRINGING REEFS -coral reefs that are

close to the shore, separated by low waters

2. BARRIER REEFS -Reefs that are at least

10 kilometers away from land are called barrier reefs.

3. ATOLL REEFS -A circular coral island

that is far away from land is called an atoll

- Atolls form when coral develops on a volcanic island that has sunk below the wateR

ESTUARINES• Are areas where

freshwater streams or rivers merge with the Ocean

• Microflora like algae, and macroflora, such as seaweeds, marsh grasses, and mangrove trees (only in the tropics), can be found here.

• Estuaries support a diverse fauna, including a variety of worms, oysters, crabs, and waterfowl.

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