1. By: Lauren Clark
Aquatic Biomes

2. What is an aquatic biome?
Any mass of water
Determined by abiotic factors like:
Salinity
Depth
Amount of light
Distance from land
Temperature

3. Vertical Zonation Photic zone – sufficient light for photosynthesis
Aphotic zone – not enough light for photosynthesis
Benthic zone – sand and sediment
Abyssal zone – deep ocean, very cold, low nutrients
Pelagic zone – further from land, surface to bottom

4. Horizontal Zonation of Lakes
Littoral zone – shallow water with light going to the bottom
Limnetic zone - water with light penetrating, but only enough to support plants.
Profundal – beyond light penetration. Only living things adapted to dark live here.

5. Lakes Mostly Land locked Freshwater Classified: Low in nutrients
Oligotrophic Lakes
Low in nutrients
High Oxygen
Deep
Eutrophic Lakes
High in Nutrients
Low Oxygen
Shallow

6. Thermal Stratification
Upper layer of water is warmed by the sun
Does not mix with water underneath
Mostly occurs in warmer climates and in summer

7. Rivers and Streams Characterized by speed and volume of water
Headwaters – source, cold, clear, rapid, higher oxygen
Farther along – “higher order”, slower, warmer, less oxygen, turbid

8. River Continuum Concept
Streams are gradients
Downstream processes are connected to upstream processes
Different organisms present at different areas

9. Wetlands Land either permanently or temporarily saturated with water
Marshes, swamps, bogs, etc.
Amphibians and reptiles common

10. Estuaries Where the fresh water meets the salt water
Select few organisms adapted to salinity
Temperate – salt marshes
Tropical – Mangrove forests

11. Oceans Largest of all ecosystems Some say richest biodiversity
Zones – intertidal (next to shore), netric (about 200m to the continental shelf), and oceanic (beyond netric)

12. Intertidal Zones Can be dry land or underwater depending on tide
Creates gradient in organisms that live here
Organisms separate based on tolerance to harsh conditions

13. Coral Reefs Structures that allow enough life for photosynthesis
Cnidarian spores on calcium carbonate structures
Most productive and diverse ecosystem

14. Decline of Coral Reefs Close to land, on fringes of islands
Human activity and climate change threaten coral reef
“Why are coral reefs so important?”

15. Kelp Beds Similar to corral reefs Temperate climate
Kelp growing up from ocean floor

16. Sources https://stroudcenter.org/continuum/
ecosystem#ref6891
biology/chapter/aquatic-biomes/ l