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Ponds and Lakes

 Freshwater ecosystems include water bodies

with very little dissolved salt, such as most
ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers

 Ponds and lakes are standing (not flowing)
bodies of water

 Lakes and large ponds are divided into
zones based on water depth and distance
from shore

 The shallow water close to shore and the
upper zone of water away from shore make
up the photic zone, so named because light
is available for photosynthesis

 Phytoplankton, microscopic algae and
cyanobacteria that carry out photosynthesis,
live in the photic zone, along with water
plants

 The deep, murky areas of a lake, where light
levels are too low to support photosynthesis,
are called the aphotic zone

 The bottom of any aquatic ecosystem is
called the benthic zone

 The benthic zone consists of rock, sand, and
sediment

 The organisms of deep (aphotic) benthic
areas feed on wastes that sink down from the
photic zone

4treams and Rivers

 A body of flowing fresh water is known as a

stream or a river

 A river changes greatly between its source
and the point at which it empties into a lake
or the ocean

 Near the source, the water is usually cold,
low in nutrients, and clear

 Few phytoplankton inhabit this part of a river

 Instead, the major producers near a river's
source are algae attached to rocks on the
river bed

 Many species of arthropods live in the
benthic zone, feeding on algae, fallen leaves,
and one another

 ownstream from its source, a river
generally becomes wider and deeper

 Marshes and other wetlands are common in
these downstream areas

 The water is usually warmer and murkier
than it is upstream

 More phytoplankton live in this part of a river

àstuaries

 4treams and rivers merge with ocean water

in areas known as estuaries

 àstuary organisms experience changes in
salt concentration and temperature as the
fresh water and salt water mix

 àstuaries serve as breeding grounds for
many invertebrate and fish species, and as
nesting and feeding areas for a great
diversity of birds

 Along most of the east coast of the United
4tates, the major ecosystems found in
estuaries are salt marshes

 In tropical areas, the typical estuary
ecosystems are mangrove swamps

 These swamps are dominated by mangrove
trees, which are anchored by tangled
networks of arching roots

Ècean Zones

 Zones of depth include the benthic zone, or ocean

floor, and the pelagic zone, or open water above the
ocean floor

 Also as in freshwater ecosystems, the ocean has a
photic zone, which receives enough sunlight to
support photosynthesis, and a dark aphotic zone

 Zones of distance from shore include the intertidal
zone, neritic zone, and oceanic zone

Intertidal Zone

 The area of shore between the high-tide and

low-tide lines is called the intertidal zone

 Pounded by waves during high tide and
exposed to the sun and drying winds during
low tide, benthic organisms in this zone must
be well-adapted to survive these harsh
conditions
Neritic Zone

 The area of the ocean from the low-tide line

out to the edge of the continental shelf is the
neritic zone

 4ince the ocean here is fairly shallow, some
sunlight reaches the bottom in most of the
neritic zone

 As a result, many organisms that require light
for photosynthesis can live in this zone,
including seaweeds and phytoplankton

Èceanic Zone

 The vast open ocean from the edge of the

continental shelf outward is called the
oceanic zone

 Phytoplankton drifting in the photic layer are
the major producers in this zone

 Microscopic animals called zooplankton also
inhabit the photic zone and in turn are a
source of food for other animals

]oral Reefs

 All the invertebrate phyla are found on coral

reefs, including sponges, sea anemones,
worms, sea stars, and mollusks

 Vertebrates such as sea turtles and fishes
also roam the reefs

 Most reefs are formed by colonies of coral
polyps, animals in the phylum ]nidaria that
secrete hard external skeletons

eep-sea Vents

 Imagine the surprise of biologists when they

first glimpsed giant tube worms living at
depths of 2,500 meters

 These unfamiliar organisms live around
deep-sea hydrothermal vents, spots on the
ocean floor where hot gases and minerals
escape from àarth's interior into the water

 No sunlight reaches this deep, dark zone

 The vent communities use the chemical
energy from àarth's interior as their energy
source

 The producers in these ecosystems are
prokaryotes that, instead of carrying out
photosynthesis, can extract energy from
sulfur compounds spewing from the vents
and use this energy to make carbohydrates