34-4 – Aquatic Ecosystems make up most of the biosphere
Freshwater Ecosystems (very little salt)
Ponds and Lakes
- Water is not moving
Streams and Rivers
- Water is moving
- At the beginning of the river, the water is usually colder and
very clear
- At the end of the river (where it empties into an ocean or lake),
the river is wider and deeper
Estuaries – where a stream or river connects to an ocean
- Amount of salt and freshwater is constantly changing
- One of earth’s most productive ecosystems because rivers
carry nutrient – rich soil
- Can change the shoreline
- Along the ocean coasts
- Tides can affect food sources and reproduction
Saltwater ecosystems
1. Coral Reefs – includes sponges, sea anemones, worms, sea stars,
“Nemo”
- Very diverse – many different kinds of plants and animals
2. Deep Sea Vents – in the very deep oceans (below 2500 m)
- Organisms feed off minerals coming out of the earth
- No sunlight can get down this far – it’s completely dark
Vocabulary for the day
1. Permafrost – in the Tundra, the ground is frozen most of the time
- “Permanent Frost”
2. Plankton – very small, plant – like organisms
- Food for many other animals
- Form the basis of the aquatic food chain – if the plankton dies,
the other organisms will also die
Additions to other notes
Tropical Forest
- over 250,000 species and we are finding more
- one of the most endangered habitats
Coniferous Forest
- Coniferous Trees – Trees with cones (pinecones)
Tundra
- Plants include mosses, lichens and small plants