Aquatic Ecosystems

Freshwater Ecosystem

• include streams,rivers,ponds and lakes
• a type of aquatic ecosystem
• affected by sunlight, temperature,oxygen and salt content
• most of Earth's surface is covered with water
• only a fraction is covered with freshwater

Rivers and streams

• Few plants or algae can grow in this fast-moving water
• First-level consumers rely on leaves and seeds that fall into the stream
• Plants take root among the pebbles on the river bottom
• Insects need to have hooks or suckes that help them cling to rocks
• Trout have streamlined bodies that allow them to swim despite the water

Lakes and ponds

• Sunlight can reach the bottom allowing plants to grow there.
• Algae floating at the surface is the major producer
• Herons have long-legs which allow them to wade in the shallow ponds
• Many animals are adapted for life in the still water

Marine ecosystems

• by the coast
• includes the intertidal zone, neritic zone and open-ocean zone
• and the surface zone and the deep zone
• algae and grasses are found in this ecosystem

estuary

• Found where the fresh water of a river meets the salt water of the ocean
• Algae and plants such as marsh grasses provide food and shelter for animals
• Many animals use the calm waters of estuaries for breeding grounds

Intertidal zone

• where the highest high-tide and the lowest low-tide meet
• organisms here must be able to survive pounding waves and changes in water
• you would observe animals such as barnacles and sea stars clinging to rocks
• others like clams or crabs burrow in the sand

Neretic zone

• the neretic zone is below the low-tide line
• extends over the continental shelf
• sunlight passes through the shallow water
• this zone is rich in living things
• in warm oceans coral reefs may form

Surface zone

• located above the deep zone
• algae carries out photosynthesis in this region of the open ocean
• this is known as the surface zone

Deep ocean zone

• Light penetrates only to a depth of a few hundred meters.
• almost totally dark
• most animals in this zone feed on the remains of organisms
• algae carries out photosynthesis
• animals have adapted to the dark and some have glow-in-the-dark bodies