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    Freshwater Ecosystems

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    Rahul Sharma
    Freshwater ecosystems include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. They make up a small fraction of the Earth's total water. Rivers flow from a source like snowmelt or springs to a mouth that empties into another river, lake, or ocean. They support diverse life and habitats from the colder headwaters to the warmer, muddier mouth. Lakes and ponds differ in size and whether they are permanent or seasonal. Wetlands provide flood control, filter pollutants from water, and protect shorelines from erosion. However, many freshwater ecosystems face threats from pollution, development, and other human impacts.

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    Freshwater Ecosystems

    Uploaded by

    Rahul Sharma
    111 views25 pages
    Freshwater ecosystems include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. They make up a small fraction of the Earth's total water. Rivers flow from a source like snowmelt or springs to a mouth that empties into another river, lake, or ocean. They support diverse life and habitats from the colder headwaters to the warmer, muddier mouth. Lakes and ponds differ in size and whether they are permanent or seasonal. Wetlands provide flood control, filter pollutants from water, and protect shorelines from erosion. However, many freshwater ecosystems face threats from pollution, development, and other human impacts.

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    Freshwater ecosystem

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    Freshwater ecosystems include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. They make up a small fraction of the Earth's total water. Rivers flow from a source like snowmelt or springs to a mouth that empties into another river, lake, or ocean. They support diverse life and habitats from the colder headwaters to the warmer, muddier mouth. Lakes and ponds differ in size and whether they are permanent or seasonal. Wetlands provide flood control, filter pollutants from water, and protect shorelines from erosion. However, many freshwater ecosystems face threats from pollution, development, and other human impacts.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    111 views25 pages

    Freshwater Ecosystems

    Uploaded by

    Rahul Sharma
    Freshwater ecosystems include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. They make up a small fraction of the Earth's total water. Rivers flow from a source like snowmelt or springs to a mouth that empties into another river, lake, or ocean. They support diverse life and habitats from the colder headwaters to the warmer, muddier mouth. Lakes and ponds differ in size and whether they are permanent or seasonal. Wetlands provide flood control, filter pollutants from water, and protect shorelines from erosion. However, many freshwater ecosystems face threats from pollution, development, and other human impacts.

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    At a glance
    Powered by AI
    The key takeaways are that freshwater ecosystems have low salinity (<0.5ppt), and include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and wetlands. Salinity is measured in parts per thousand.

    The different types of freshwater habitats described are rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and wetlands.

    The different zones of a lake described are the littoral zone, limnetic zone, profundal zone and benthic zone.

    Freshwater ecosystems

    Kinds Characteristics Threats

    Aquatic ecosystems

    Key distinction: salinity = salt content of the water Measured in parts per thousand (ppt) 1 gm of salt in 1000 gms water = 1 ppt FRESH usually < 0.5 ppt OCEANS average 35 ppt 0.5 to 17 ppt is called BRACKISH

    Kinds of freshwater habitats

    Rivers, streams

    Flowing freshwater Source: where it starts Mouth: where it ends

    Lakes, ponds Wetlands

    All freshwater ecosystems


    Just a fraction of the Earths water

    .01% = one one-hundredth of one percent

    Occupy less than 1 percent of the Earths surface

    Rivers and streams


    More

    than 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams (including intermittent streams)

    Just the U.S.! More than 140 times around the Earth.

    www.noaa.gov/str-plan/images/river.gif

    Rivers from start to finish


    Source = Headwaters Can be:

    Snowmelt Spring Even a lake

    Water is colder, clearer, more highly oxygenated Organisms include trout, mayflies

    Mouth: where the river ends Usually the ocean or another river, or lake River widens and slows, getting warmer, siltier. Middle is most diverse, lots of plants Near mouth, increased sediment limits light and plants, water is warmest

    What are some of the differences?

    Trout stream, NW NJ

    Mississippi R. Greenville, MS

    Mouth
    Mississippi River delta

    Lakes and ponds

    Whats the difference?


    Ponds typically smaller May be seasonalthat is, dry up part of the year Lakes exist hundreds or thousands of years

    But, even lakes can fill in or dry up

    Parts of a lake

    Parts of a lake

    Littoral zone: near shore


    Nutrient rich, lots of plant and animal life Warm Lots of light Lots of plankton

    Limnetic zone: near surface, open water


    Profundal zone: deeper, little light Benthic zone: the bottom, little light, low oxygen

    Eutrophication

    If nutrients increase too much in a lake, pond, or ocean, excessive plant growth results Phosphorus Nitrogen NOT GOOD: why?

    As plants decay, decomposing bacteria use oxygen dissolved in the lake to do their jobs. Dissolved oxygen goes down

    Wetlands

    CA

    OR

    AK

    Wetlands: what are they?

    For regulatory purposes under the Clean Water Act, the term wetlands means "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas."

    Wetlands

    May be fresh or brackish Freshwater types include:


    Marsh Swamp Bog Fen

    Marsh

    Most common freshwater wetland in U.S. Occur along streams or in depressions Characterized by organic, wet soils and non-woody (i.e., no trees) vegetation.

    Swamp

    Wetland dominated by woody plants Common in SE U.S.

    New Jersey wetlands

    About 916,000 acres, or 19% of New Jersey, is wetlands, which seems like a lot; but the bad news is that about 40% of the original 1,500,000 acres has been lost to dredging and filling, dams, farming, development and highways.

    1.

    NJ wetlands

    What good are wetlands?

    Reduce flooding by acting like sponges

    What good are wetlands?

    Help clean water by acting like a filter

    The plants and slow water flow in a wetland help remove pollutants, leaving water cleaner downstream in a lake or river. Too much pollution can leave a wetland toxic to visiting animals, such as many birds.

    What good are wetlands?

    Protect shorelines from erosion Erosion in this case came from grazing animals

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