1. Aquatic Biomes

2. Water on the Earth
75% - 78% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water

3. Why are oceans important?
Covers 71-75% of earth’s surface
Make up 99.5% of earth’s habitable volume
Contain 250,000 known species of plant and animals
Provide important and ecological and economic services
Almost half the oxygen in the atmosphere comes from photosynthesis in the ocean.

4. Terrestrial Biomes
Terrestrial Biomes usually are determined by three major factors:
Latitude
Rain
Temperature
However, this is not the case for aquatic biomes.

5. What factors influence the kind of life an aquatic biome contains?
Salinity
Depth
Speed of water flow

6. Types of Life in An Aquatic Biome

7. Major types of aquatic biomes
Salt Water
Estuaries**
Coastlines
Coral Reefs
Coastal Marshes**
Mangrove Swamps**
Oceans
** May be brackish
Fresh Water
Streams
Rivers
Lakes
Ponds
Wetlands (inland)
Salt water: 3.5% salt, Freshwater: 0.05%

8. Saltwater Biomes

9. Zones

11. Intertidal zone This is where the ocean meets the land
Tide and waves mean the communities are constantly changing.
Very few algae and plants can establish themselves due to mud and sand movement.
Flora: few species of algae and seaweed
Fauna: snails, crabs, sea stars, and small fishes.

12. Intertidal zone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u64ppKBY3cM

14. Pelagic Zone
Includes those waters further from the land, basically the open ocean.
The pelagic zone is generally cold though it is hard to give a general temperature range
Flora: include surface seaweeds and plankton.
Fauna: include many species of fish, and mammals like whales and dolphins.

17. Benthic Zone
The area below the pelagic zone, but does not include the very deepest parts of the ocean. The bottom of the zone consists of sand, slit, and/or dead organisms. Temperature decreases as depth increases, due to a lack of light.
Flora: seaweed
Fauna: include all sorts of bacteria, fungi, sponges, sea anemones, worms, sea stars, and fishes.

20. Abyssal zone
The deep ocean. The water in this region is very cold (around 3° C), highly pressured, high in oxygen content, but low in nutritional content.
Fauna: many species of invertebrates and fishes. Chemosynthetic bacteria live near thermal vents These bacteria are thus the start of the food web as they are eaten by invertebrates and fishes.

22. Abyssal zone

24. Questions What is the biggest tidal range? Bay of Fundy.
How deep is the ocean/how far can we dive?

25. Plankton
…..not what I had in mind

26. Phytoplankton “Plant Plankton”
Free Floating Microscopic Cynobacteria or algae
Producers
Contain cholorphyll - photosynthetic
Support most aquatic food chains and food webs

28. Zooplankton “Animal Plankton” Non-photosynthetic
Consumers (herbivores)
Feed on phytoplankton
Single Celled Protozoa to larger invertebrates such as jellyfish
Many zooplankton are larval stages of familiar animals

31. Name that Plankton!!
I will show you 4 images of different larva zooplankton.
All you need to do is guess which type of animal it will grow up to be. If you get them all right you get a prize.

32. 1
A. Fish 2
B. Snail 3
C. Sea Star
D. Crab 4

34. C. Sea Star 1 2
A. Fish 3
D. Crab 4
B. Snail

35. Food Chain

36. Food Chains and Webs
Aquatic ecosystems tend to have more complex and longer food chains and food webs

39. This is a Grouper.
It can weigh over 600lbs…..(what does that look like??)

40. Like this..

41. And This..

42. How does it stay afloat?

43. Physical support from water buoyancy
Organisms take advantage of water's buoyancy to transport themselves to nearby or distant habitats with little energy expenditure

44. A fish will float on top of the water if it weighs less than the amount of water it displaces (pushes away).
Most fish weigh more than the water they displace and would sink to the ocean floor. But, most fish do not spend their lives on the ocean floor.

45. They can do this because of an organ called a swim-bladder ( a built-in gas filled chamber) that helps the fish get off the ground and up in the water.
Some fast-moving fish and sharks do not have a swim bladder and therefore must keep moving or they will sink.

46. Just for Funzies…
Ever wonder what happens when an underwater volcano erupts???

48. Estuaries and Mangrove Forests
Estuaries and Mangrove forest have unique communities because both involve the mixing of freshwater and salt.

49. Estuaries Where river meets ocean
Some land may isolate and protect some areas.

51. Mangrove Swamps (Forest)
Mangrove swamps are found along tropical seacoasts on both sides of the equator.

53. Freshwater Freshwater has low concentrations of salt.
Examples included in freshwater are ponds
and lakes, streams and rivers, and wetlands.

54. How much freshwater? Of all the water available on Earth…
Only 3% is freshwater
Of the 3% freshwater, 2% is tied up in glaciers and icebergs…
Only leaving less than 1% available to humans.

55. Limnology The study of fresh water and its ecosystems
The study of freshwater ecosystems can be divided into 2 systems
1. Lentic – standing water
(little or no current)
2. Lotic – flowing water

56. Examples of Lentic Systems
Standing water
Lakes
Ponds
Wetlands
Marshes
Swamps
bogs

57. Plant Life
Water Lilly
Cattail
There are many different plants in a freshwater biome.
A few examples are water lilies, algae, cattails, and duckweed.
Animal Life
Turtle
There are a variety of animals that live in freshwater biomes.
A few examples are fish, birds, insects, turtles, and frogs.
Fish