SCIENCE 9

AQUATIC BIOME
TWO BASIC REGIONS

I. FRESHWATER II. MARINE

PONDS OCEANS

LAKES REEFS

RIVERS AND STREAMS ESTUARIES

WETLANDS

I. FRESHWATER
 Having a low salt-concentration
 Biotic components are adjusted to the low-salt content and would not be able to survive in high-salt
concentration areas.
 Changes daily or seasonally

A. PONDS
 A body of water shallow enough to support rooted plants.
 Water temperature is fairly even from top to bottom and changes with air temperature.
B. LAKES
 Bigger than a pond
 Too deep to support rooted plants except near the shore
 Some lakes are big enough for waves to be produced
 Water temperature during summer months is not uniform from top to bottom
C. RIVERS AND STREAMS
 Bodies of flowing water moving in one direction
 They get their starts at headwaters (e.g. snowmelts) then travel all the way to their mouth (e.g.
ocean)
 The temperature is cooler at the source than it is in the mouth
 The water is clearer, has higher oxygen levels and freshwater fish
D. WETLANDS
 Marshy areas where there is much moisture in the soil
 Wetlands are sometimes covered in water
 Swamps, marshes, and bogs are some of the names used for wetlands

II. MARINE
 Changes daily or seasonally
 Usually very salty
 There is about one cup of salt per gallon of water in the ocean

 A. OCEANS
 Bodies of saline water that compose a large part of the planet’s hydrosphere
 They are distinguished in terms of their physical and chemical environmental factors, particularly waves,
tides currents, salinity, temperature, light intensity and nutrient concentration.
 They contain the richest diversity of species than on land

FOUR REGIONS OF THE OCEAN

1. INTERTIDAL – the area where the land meets the sea
2. PELAGIC – relating to or living in the sea far from the shore
3. ABYSSAL – bed of the ocean
4. BENTHIC – lowest level of a body of a water or occurring in the depths of the ocean

B. REEFS
 Warm, clear, shallow ocean habitats that are rich in life.
 A chain of rocks near the surface of the water

THREE KINDS OF REEFS

FRINGING REEFS - BARRIER REEFS - Grow parallel CORAL ATOLLS - Rings of

Reefs that form along to shorelines, but farther out, coral that grow on top of
the coastlines usually separated from the land old, sunken volcanoes in
by deep lagoon the ocean

Since reef waters tend to be nutritionally poor, corals obtain nutrients through the algae via photosynthesis and
also by extending tentacles to obtain plankton from the water.
The coral provides shelter for many animals in this complex habitat.

C. ESTUARIES
 A coastal area where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with saltwater from the ocean
 They are protected from the full force of the ocean by mudflats, sandspits, and barrier islands
 They are full of decaying animals and plants making the soil nutritious. This then enables many different
plants to grow causing more animals to live in the estuaries

MadenRJCrisostomo2017