Chapter 5 Lesson 3: What are water ecosystems?
Water ecosystems differ in the kind of water they have, how fast it moves, and how deep it is.
Rivers
- Kinds of fish: pike, bullhead, bass
- Other animals: crayfish, otters, ducks, turtles, insects
- Few organisms of any kind can live in badly polluted waters
- Plants and animals live in rivers usually do not also live in oceans can’t handle extra salt
- Include animals that spend time on both land AND water…
- Example: Otter
- Swims: close its nose and ears
- Land: can run and catch small mammals and frogs
Wetlands
- A wetland is partly covered with water or is flooded at least part of each year.
- Animals and Plants are found on land AND water
- Types of wetlands
- FloridaEverglades: vast area of sawgrass over 3 meters tall.
- Alligators, fish, deer, snakes
- Swamp (Congaree Swamp, South Carolina): many trees and bushes
- Deer, otters, turtles, snakes, wild pigs
- Wetlands are helpful:
- Plants, soil and microorganisms act as filters cleaning water that flows through a wetlands helps ALL organisms in the water
- Estuaries: where rivers flow into oceans
- Salty but not as salty as the ocean
- Salt marshes are grassy wetlands at the edges of estuaries protect inland areas from stormy ocean waves
Coral Reefs
- Sharks, clams, crabs, clownfish, and eels
- Corals: animals with a special relationship with algae
- As they grow and die skeletal parts pile up to make the reef
- Need to be in water 18 degrees Celsius or warmer
- Found near the coasts of Florida and Australia
- Important ecosystem:
- Protect shore lines from ocean storms
- Organism found in the reef have provided new kinds of medicines
- Many kinds of food are found along reefs
The Deep Sea
- Deeper areas of ocean: very strange creatures
- Deal with: cold, darkness, very high water pressure
- Sunlight cannot reach these cold depths no plants can grow
- Many animals eat dead plants and animals that sink from higher levels
- Clams, crabs and tubeworms live around the vents