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Freshwater Ecolgy
Freshwater Ecolgy
Notes
Chapter Overview Questions
What are the basic types of aquatic life
zones and what factors influence the
kinds of life they contain?
What are the major types of freshwater
life zones, and how do human activities
affect them?
Chapter Overview Questions
What do we know about aquatic
biodiversity, and what is its economic
and ecological importance?
How are human activities affecting
aquatic biodiversity?
How can we manage and sustain the
worlds marine fisheries?
Chapter Overview Questions
(contd)
How can we protect, sustain, and
restore wetlands?
How can we protect, sustain, and
restore lakes, rivers, and freshwater
fisheries?
Chapter Overview Questions
Comparison of
population sizes
and shares of the
worlds freshwater
among the
continents.
Figure 14-2
WATERS IMPORTANCE,
AVAILABILITY, AND RENEWAL
Some precipitation infiltrates the ground
and is stored in soil and rock
(groundwater).
Water that does not sink into the ground or
evaporate into the air runs off (surface
runoff) into bodies of water.
The land from which the surface water drains
into a body of water is called its watershed or
drainage basin.
Unconfined Aquifer Recharge Area
Confined
Recharge Runoff
Area
Flowing
Recharge
artesian Stream Well
Unconfined
well requiring a
Aquifer
Infiltration Water pump
table Lake
Infiltration
Freshwater life
zones include:
Standing (lentic)
water such as
lakes, ponds, and
inland wetlands.
Flowing (lotic)
systems such as
streams and rivers.
Figure 6-14
Flowing Water
Ecosystems
Because of different
environmental conditions in
each zone, a river is a system
of different ecosystems.
Natural Capital
Purify water
Figure 6-15
Definition
Thetemperature difference in deep
lakes where there are warm
summers and cold winters.
Lakes: Water-Filled
Depressions
During summer and winter in deep
temperate zone lakes the become
stratified into temperature layers and
will overturn.
This equalizes the temperature at all
depths.
Oxygen is brought from the surface to the
lake bottom and nutrients from the bottom
are brought to the top.
Causes
During the summer,
lakes become stratified
into different
temperature layers that
resist mixing because
summer sunlight warms
surface waters, making
them less dense.
Thermocline
The middle layer
that acts as a barrier
to the transfer of
nutrients and
dissolved oxygen.
Fall Turnover
As the temperatures begin to drop,
the surface layer becomes more
dense, and it sinks to the bottom.
This mixing brings nutrients from
the bottom up to the surface and
sends oxygen to the bottom.
Spring Turnover
As top water warms and ice melts,
it sinks through and below the
cooler, less dense water, sending
oxygen down and nutrients up.
Freshwater
Wetlands
Freshwater Inland Wetlands:
Vital Sponges
Inland wetlands
act like natural
sponges that
absorb and store
excess water
from storms and
provide a variety
of wildlife
habitats.
Figure 6-18
Freshwater Inland Wetlands:
Vital Sponges
Filter and degrade pollutants.
Reduce flooding and erosion by absorbing
slowly releasing overflows.
Help replenish stream flows during dry
periods.
Help recharge ground aquifers.
Provide economic resources and recreation.
Marshes
An area of temporarily flooded, often
silty land beside a river or lake.
Swamps
A lowland region permanently covered
with water.
Hardwood Bottomland Forest
Anarea down by a river or stream
where lots of hardwoods, like oaks,
grow.
Prairie Potholes
Theseare depressions that hold water out
on the prairie, especially up north in
Canada. It is a very good duck habitat.
Peat Moss Bog
A wet area that over time fills in (the last
stage of succession is peat moss). It can
be very deep. In Ireland, they burn this
for wood.
Importance of freshwater
wetlands
They filter & purify water.
Habitat for many animals and
plants.
Historical Aspects
Developers and farmers want Congress to
revise the definition of wetlands. This
would make 60-75% of all wetlands
unavailable for protection. The Audubon
Society estimates that wetlands provide
water quality protection worth $1.6 billion
per year, and they say if that wetlands are
destroyed, the U.S. would spend $7.7
billion to $31 billion per year in additional
flood-control costs.
Estuaries
Definition
A partially enclosed area of coastal
water where sea water mixes with
freshwater.
Salt Marshes
The ground here is saturated with water and
there is little oxygen, so decay takes place
slowly. It has a surface inlet and outlet, and
contains many invertebrates. It is also the
breeding ground for many ocean animals. Ex.
crabs and shellfish.
Mangrove Forests
These are along warm,
tropical coasts where there is
too much silt for coral reefs to
grow. It is dominated by salt-
tolerant trees called
mangroves (55 different
species exist). It also helps to
protect the coastline from
erosion and provides a
breeding nursery for some
2000 species of fish,
invertebrates, and plants.
Importance of Estuaries
Just one acre of estuary provides $75,000
worth of free waste treatment, and has a
value of about $83,000 when recreation and
fish for food are included.
Prime Kansas farmland has a top value of
$1,200 and an annual production value of
$600.
The Everglades
Southern Florida to the
Keys
Case Study:
Restoring the Florida Everglades
The worlds largest ecological restoration
project involves trying to undo some of the
damage inflicted on the Everglades by human
activities.
90% of parks wading birds have vanished.
Other vertebrate populations down 75-95%.