1. Aquatic Biomes

2. Aquatic Biomes The limiting factors in aquatic biomes are:
Amount of salt (salinity)
Amount of dissolved oxygen
Sunlight

3. 2 Types of Aquatic Biomes
Freshwater
Rivers and Streams
Lakes and Ponds
Saltwater
Ocean
Estuaries
Seashores (tidal areas)

4. Freshwater Biomes
Freshwater contains little or no salt, so it has a LOW salinity.
Flowing freshwater = rivers and streams
Still Freshwater = lakes and ponds

5. Flowing Freshwater Streams
The faster a stream flows the greater the amount of dissolved oxygen in it.
Faster water flows = oxygen

6. Flowing Freshwater Streams
The fish that live in streams are adapted to fast moving water

7. Flowing Freshwater Rivers
Water moves slower in a river and debris settles on the bottom.
Because of this, rivers tend to have more nutrients and less dissolved oxygen.
nutrients and oxygen

8. Flowing Freshwater
Rivers

9. Freshwater Ponds Small, shallow bodies of water
Sunlight penetrates all the way to the bottom
Most completely filled with plant material
Very high amount of nutrients

10. Freshwater
Ponds

11. Freshwater Lakes Larger and deeper than ponds
Plant growth is limited to the shoreline
Sunlight does NOT penetrate to the bottom= no plants after a certain depth!

12. Freshwater
Lakes

13. Lakes and Ponds: Littoral Zone
Topmost zone near the shore of a lake.
Diverse community of plants and animals including many small insects, fish, and larvae.
These smaller creatures are food for larger creature like turtles and birds.
Where the “litter” would collect…

14. Lakes and Ponds: Limnetic Zone
Well lit central area water.
Dominated by plankton and a variety of fish.
Plankton are a group of tiny organisms that play crucial roles in aquatic and terrestrial food chains.

15. Lakes and Ponds: Profundal Zone
Deep water part of pond/lake.
Colder and darker than the previous two.
Mostly heterotrophs that eat dead organisms that collect on the bottom.

16. Ponds/Lakes: Temperature
Temperature varies seasonally in ponds and lakes, warmer in the summer colder in the winter.
Surface water is generally warmer than deeper water.
Between these two layers is the thermocline, an area of rapid temperature change.

17. Ponds/Lakes: Temperature
Under the right circumstances, the top and bottom layers will mix. This is known as “turning over” and helps circulate oxygen through the lake.

18. Wetlands
Areas of standing water that support a variety of plants and animals.
Examples include:
Marshes
Swamps
Bogs
Not all wetlands are considered freshwater, i.e. salt marshes.

19. Aquatic Biomes
Plankton are microscopic algae, plants, and other organisms that float on the surface of water biomes.
They need sunlight to survive.

20. Aquatic Biomes Phytoplankton are important producers in water biomes.
They are the first step in many aquatic food chains

21. Marine (Saltwater) Biomes
About 95% of the water on Earth has a high concentration of salt. (High salinity)

22. Saltwater Estuaries Area where a river meets an ocean
Mix of salt and freshwater
Located near coastlines, border land
Extremely fertile
Nutrient levels are higher than both salt and freshwater

23. Saltwater
Estuaries
Savannah River Estuary

24. Saltwater Seashores Tides have a huge influence on life here
INTERTIDAL ZONE- portion of the shoreline that is covered with water at high tide and exposed to the air at low tide.

25. Intertidal Zone Can be sandy or rocky
Small fish, clams, crabs, other mussels are trapped in the TIDAL POOLS during low tide

26. Intertidal Zone

27. Saltwater Oceans 1. Photic zone- sunlight penetrates
Can be divided into 2 main life zones
1. Photic zone- sunlight penetrates
2. Aphotic zone- NO sunlight

29. Photic Zone- above 200m Made up of the euphotic & disphotic zones
Sunlight penetrates
Plant life and animal life is abundant

30. Aphotic Zone- below 200m Sunlight DOES NOT penetrate
There are no plants
Animal life is highly specialized

31. Aphotic Zone- below 200m
Many of the denizens of the deep ocean have a special adaptation known as bioluminescence

32. Coral Reefs Found in warm waters along the coasts of most continents.
Corals are actually made up of tiny animals called polyps.
Areas of high animal diversity.

33. Coral Reefs