Aquatic%20Ecology

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Aquatic Ecology

• Life of the Wet Things

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Marine vs. Fresh

• Marine Salt water
• Estuaries, Coastlines, Coral reefs, Coastal
  marshes, Deep ocean
• Freshwater Non-salty water
• Lakes, Ponds, Stream, Rivers, Inland wetlands

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Major Types of Aquatic Life

• Plankton Free floating
• Nekton Strong swimming
• Benthos Bottom dwelling

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Advantages of Living in Water

• Natural buoyancy
• Less energy spent on support
• Usually limited fluctuations of temperature
• Nutrients usually available
• Waste/toxins diluted

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Limiting Factors of Life at Different Depths

• Three major zones
• Surface
• Middle
• Bottom

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Limiting Factors of Life at Different Depths

• Life limited by following factors at different
  depths
• Temperature
• Sunlight
• DO
• Nutrients

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Limiting Factors of Life at Different Depths

• Temperature drops as depth increases

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Limiting Factors of Life at Different Depths

• Sunlight can only penetrate about 100ft (30m)
• Euphotic Zone

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Limiting Factors of Life at Different Depths

• DO
• Varies by temperature and depth
• Comes mostly from atmosphere
• Can be added to by producers
• Depleted by consumers

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Limiting Factors of Life at Different Depths
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Limiting Factors of Life at Different Depths

• Nutrients
• Affected by upwelling
• Phosphorus (phosphates) most limiting in
  freshwater
• Nitrogen (nitrates) most limiting in saltwater

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Saltwater Life Zones

• Importance of oceans
• 71 of planet
• Heat sink
• Major role in hydrologic cycle
• Has a somewhat large influence in the earths
  weather patterns
• Ok, not so large, more like HUGE
• Gigantic reservoir for CO2

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Saltwater Life Zones

• Two major life zones
• Coastal Zone
• On top of the continental shelf
• 10 of ocean/90 of ocean life
• High primary and net productivity
• Open Ocean

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Saltwater Life Zones
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Saltwater Life Zones
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Saltwater Life Zones

• Estuaries and Tidal Zones
• Salt and freshwater mix
• Temperature and salinity vary
• Runoff
• Tidal flow
• Huge cleaning affect on environment

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Saltwater Life Zones

• Coastal Wetlands
• Covered by salt water most of the year
• Breeding grounds/habitat for wildlife
• Filters waste/toxin
• Buffers shores against damage
• Bays, Mud flats, Salt marshes

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Saltwater Life Zones

• Rocky and Sandy Shores
• Intertidal Zone
• Between low and high tide
• Rocky shores
• Pounded by waves, but still lots of life
• Barrier beaches
• Life must dig

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Saltwater Life Zones

• Human impact on coastal zones
• 2/3 of human life live within 100 miles of a
  coast
• California has lost 91 of its original coastal
  wetlands

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Saltwater Life Zones

• Coastal wetlands very vulnerable to pollution
• Easy to trap pollutants
• Coral reefs decreasing due to human destruction

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Saltwater Life Zones

• Open ocean
• Three life zones based on penetration of sunlight
• Euphotic
• Bathyal
• Abyssal

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Saltwater Life Zones

• Euphotic
• Photosynthesis takes place
• Low nutrients
• High DO

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Saltwater Life Zones

• Bathyal and abyssal zones
• COLD
• Low DO
• High nutrients
• Life includes
• Deposit feeders
• Filter feeders
• Tragedy of Commons

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Things to Remember While Googling

• Its abyssal, not abysmal.

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Freshwater Life Zones

• Dissolved salt lt1 by volume
• Two types
• Standing
• Flowing

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Freshwater Life Zones

• About 1 of earths surface, but 41 of known fish

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Freshwater Life Zones

• Closely connected to their surrounding
  terrestrial biomes.
• Why?

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Freshwater Life Zones

• Dissolved salt lt1 by volume
• Two types
• Standing
• Flowing

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Freshwater Life Zones

• About 1 of earths surface, but 41 of known fish

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Freshwater Life Zones

• Closely connected to their surrounding
  terrestrial biomes.
• Why?

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Freshwater Lakes

• Lake Zones

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Freshwater Lakes

• Littoral zone
• Shallow
• Near shore
• Rooted plants stop growing outside the zone
• Rich in nutrients
• High in biological diversity
• Rooted plants, decomposers, and the usual suspects

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Freshwater Lakes

• Limnetic zone
• Like the euphotic zone
• Enough light for photosynthesis
• Limits depth of limnetic zone
• Starting with plankton, simple food web

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Freshwater Lakes

• Profundal zone
• Deep, open water
• Too deep for photosynthesis
• Fish only

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Freshwater Lakes

• Benthic zone
• Its the bottom.
• Mostly decomposers and detritus-feeders

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Types of Freshwater Lakes

• Two types
• Oligotrophic
• Eutrophic

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Types of Freshwater Lakes

• Oligotrophic
• Poorly nourished

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Freshwater Lakes
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Types of Freshwater Lakes

• Oligotrophic
• Deep with steep sides
• Crystal-clear blue or green water

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Types of Freshwater Lakes

• Eutrophic
• Well-nourished

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Freshwater Lakes
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Types of Freshwater Lakes

• Eutrophic
• Lots of nutrients for producers
• Nitrates and phosphates
• Usually shallow and murky
• During summer, bottom may have low DO

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Season Changes in Lakes

• Water is cool, especially when frozen
• Makes water unique
• Also helps lakes survive wickedly cold winters
• Wickedly meaning not like Mr. Williamson, its
  cold in here or Its freezing outside in the
  F-quad

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Season Changes in Lakes
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Season Changes in Lakes

• Lake layers
• Epiliminon
• Thermocline
• Hypoliminon

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Season Changes in Lakes

• Winter
• Top layer freezes
• Insulates lower layers from wicked cold
• DO ok in epiliminon, not so good in hypoliminon

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Season Changes in Lakes
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Season Changes in Lakes

• Spring
• Ice melts and warms, reaching max density
• Sinks forcing nutrient rich water from bottom
• Helped by winds
• Spring overturn

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Season Changes in Lakes
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Season Changes in Lakes

• Summer
• VERY definite stratification
• Causes bottom to loose DO and nutrients

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Season Changes in Lakes
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Season Changes in Lakes

• Fall
• Epiliminon cools and becomes more dense
• Sinks, causing cooler, nutrient rich water to
  rise
• DO good everywhere

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Freshwater Streams and Rivers

• Consists of runoff
• Watershed

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Freshwater Streams and Rivers

• Three zones
• Headwater or source zone
• Transition zone
• Flood plain zone

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Freshwater Streams and Rivers

• Source zone
• Cold water
• Fast moving
• Lots of DO
• Organisms well adapted to environment

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Freshwater Streams and Rivers
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Freshwater Streams and Rivers
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Freshwater Streams and Rivers

• Transition zone
• Deeper channels
• Slower water
• Warmer water

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Freshwater Streams and Rivers

• Flood plain zone
• Slow moving
• Murky

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Freshwater Streams and Rivers

• Importance of inland wetlands
• Food source and habitats
• Improved water quality
• Reduced flooding and erosion
• Replenish groundwater

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Freshwater Streams and Rivers

• Human impact
• Loss of wetlands due to
• Agriculture (80)
• Mining
• Forestry
• Oil/gas extraction
• Urban development

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Freshwater Streams and Rivers

• Mitigation banking
• Replacing lost wetlands with equal area of sime
  type
• Doesnt work well

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Freshwater Streams and Rivers

• Best course of action
• Prevention

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Aquatic Life Zones

• Why are they important?
• How do humans impact them?
• How does species diversification relate?