Name: Stephen G.

Abelada BS ChE III

Submitted to: Dr. Liah C. Catedrilla

The two days spent by the class in the audio-visual room of the TLRC is quite an ordinary sort of film-viewing commonly done in our previously taken RGEP courses but an undoubtedly fun and learning experience especially for us non-Fisheries or non-Biology students. It was all about the beginning of life in the waters, aquatic flora and fauna, the abiotic factors comprising their immediate environment and the various interrelationships between the biotic components present. In a condensed but precise description, the film talks about the enthralling, valuable aquatic ecosystems. It was very evident in the short films the vast diversity of the aquatic flora and fauna. Some are mundane for Ive seen them in movies, documentaries or ordinary television shows while some others are rarely common and barely recognizable. When I hear the term aquatic ecosystems by the way, what pops in my head will be colorful arrays of corals, fishes such as salmons, blue marlin, sharks and other animals like frogs, snails, turtles, crabs, eels, sting rays, octopuses etc. Plants I perceive as part of such ecosystems on the other hand are water lilies, seaweeds, kelps and those that are growing in pond and lake outlines. I deeply appreciated viewing those fascinating creatures Ive never discerned before such as those tiny ones with transparent, plastic-resembling skins, that scary fish emitting flashes of light to attract its prey and a few more. I also venerate the different adaptations that these creatures developed for purposes such as escaping from predators such as with the flounder changing its color to abruptly match the ocean bottom and with the smoke-belching ability of a perturbed octopus. For me, these only prove that there are more wonders of nature that are beyond what we expected, waiting to be discovered and exploited. However, I certainly would not enjoy the film if not for the headings or titles freshwater and marine. Without these two words, I would hardly know that the aquatic ecosystems shown one after the other are very different from each other. Covering an undeniably large part of the planets surface, the waters of the earth hold numerous aquatic ecosystems that are divided into two distinct categories, the freshwater and marine ecosystems. Basically, salinity is the major factor distinguishing these two ecosystems since freshwater ecosystems contain potable water due to lower salt content (0-5 ppt), as compared to the latter (30 ppt and beyond) which can contain other dissolved compounds aside salt in higher concentrations than the former. Size as vividly shown in the film as well particularize the two since freshwater ecosystems cover only 0.80% of the Earth's surface and inhabit 0.009% of its total water whereas marine ecosystems cover approximately 71% of the Earth's surface and contain about 97% of the planet's water. A marine ecosystem in addition offers greater biodiversity because it is home to greater varieties of aquatic animals which is also a fact pictured out from the film. The film actually is very informative to put it in a way. Looking closer to freshwater ecosystems, what persisted in my mind would be the terms lentic and lotic to which I was newly introduced to. Ive learned that lentic means stationary or slow-moving waters including ponds and lakes while lotic means rapidly-moving waters and thus involve the stream and river systems. Lakes and ponds actually resemble each other only that lakes are larger and deeper and may support less plant life than ponds. From the film, Ive seen insects such as the water strider that literally walks on the water surface and pond snails that glide upside down on it. Meanwhile, Ive seen mosquito larvae protruding tubes from their bodies to acquire oxygen from the air above the water surface, tadpoles eating some green plants at the pond or lake bottom, the tadpoles being eaten by fishes and the fishes eaten by the turtle (both considered predation). Emergent plants such as cattails and reeds as well provide shelter and egg-laying grounds for some animals like frogs without being harmed by the latter (commensalism). In streams, salmons are well-adapted to the fast currents by their ability to buck the current using their powerful body muscles as well as the black fly larvae

which attach their rear ends to the underside of rocks by tiny hooks. If they lose their foothold (so to speak), they can lasso another rock with silken threads. Predation as well is evident such as those raccoons eating frogs and those salmons eating smaller fishes. Predation in rivers for instance is also shown such as the kingfisher and group of otters diving for fishes. On one aspect, marine ecosystems are as well home to species forming stable relationship with another species. Mutualistic relationships are common such that of the Boxer crab (Lybia tesselata), which carries a pair of small anemones in its claws which it waves around, presenting the stinging tentacles so as to deter their predators. The anemones likewise benefit from the small particles of food dropped by the crab during feeding. An illustration of commensalism would be the Imperial shrimp shown riding on large sea cucumber, which although slow-moving, afford the shrimp with protection by virtue of their toxic chemical secretions and warning coloration. The Harlequin Snake eel (Myrichthys colubrinus) is an example of the so called mimicry. It mimics the appearance and behavior of the Banded sea snake (Laticauda colubrine), an extremely toxic species with conspicuous black and white warning coloration for predators to avoid it. Predation is also quite common such as the octopus eating the helpless crab. From this variety of interactions, I just realized that nature has a way of maximizing utilization of the environment so that every possible ecological niche is filled, but without any unsustainable overlap. There may be several species competing within a single microenvironment, but each can exist in a type of harmony with the other and thus a sustainable balance is reached. Symbiosis is a prime example of this paradigm, by living beside, on, or even inside another organism. No matter whether it is a mutualistic or a commensalistic relationship, it is an illustration of natures ability to co-achieve efficiency and equilibrium, something that we humans would be wise to emulate. If we are to take care of these ecosystems, it would be first and foremost logical to know why there is a necessity to do so. Aquatic ecosystems in general serve as habitats to multifarious species of flora and fauna which are among natures priced treasures. The waters from these systems as well help in the effective transport of carbon, phosphorus and several elements (element and nutrient cycle), regulation of climate patterns, in the water cycle and O2 production to which all Earth life depend. These ecosystems offer benefits to us in other major ways, such as the freshwater systems used for production of drinking water, irrigation to farms, power generation for cities and as transportation means as well, the rivers and streams being examples. Such ecosystems are also sources of recreation to us people in general. Production of processed fish and other marketable goods are furthermore primary benefits we get. From these, jobs are provided to us humans such as for chemical engineering practitioners in the field of power and food production in large scales. Aside from generation of food and power, chemical engineers use some of these ecosystems as a natural means of purifying agricultural, industrial and human wastes in what we call dilute and disperse method. Much of the scientific and research breakthroughs that have helped us humans acquire greater, sophisticated knowledge were actually enabled by these ecosystems (for example, ocean-based researches). So clearly speaking, without these ecosystems, living life on Earth is not life itself. We should all therefore be in an advocacy of protecting the still surviving aquatic ecosystems and help revitalize those which are literally dying. One fact that Ive repeatedly heard from high school and in college is that once a threshold is reached, things may change rapidly to a new stable state that would be very difficult to reverse, in much the same way as for these ecosystems. If we dont start taking care of these now, there comes a time that all would be irreversible and that we have ourselves doomed to our own misery and agony for a lifetime.