Global Warming

1. Meteorological conditions
2. Nutrient inputs, concentrations,
and cycling rates
3. Food web interactions
4. Sediment characteristics
5. Morphology
Aquatic systems are often strongly nutrient -limited
Functions of the Ecosystem
 The energy is assimilated
and the required food is
produced
 The Consumers feed on the
producers
 The return of the nutrients to
their primary place

Energy Flow through the Ecosystem

NPP among ecosystems
Controls on primary production in aquatic
ecosystems
Types of Aquatic Ecosystems

 Freshwater Ecosystems
 Standing Water- lakes &
ponds
 Moving Water- rivers &
streams
 Transitional Communities
 Wetlands- bogs/fens,
swamps, marshes
 Estuaries
 Marine Ecosystems
 Shorelines
 Barrier Islands
 Coral Reefs
 Open Ocean
Freshwater Ecosystems:
 Freshwater ecosystems cover 0.8% of the Earth's surface and contain
0.009% of its total water.
 Freshwater ecosystems contain 41% of the world's known fish species.
 Aquatic ecosystems perform many important environmental functions.
For example:
 They recycle nutrients, purify water, attenuate floods, recharge
ground water and provide habitats for wildlife.
 Aquatic ecosystems are also used for human recreation, and are very
important to the tourism industry, especially in coastal region.
 There are three basic types of freshwater ecosystems:
 Lentic: slow-moving water, including Pools, Ponds, and Lakes.
 Lotic: rapidly-moving water, for example Streams and Rivers.
 Wetlands: areas where the soil is saturated with water or
inundated for at least part of the time
Freshwater Ecosystems
1. Freshwater ecosystems cover 0.8% of the Earth's
surface and contain 0.009% of its total water.
2. Freshwater ecosystems contain 41% of the world's
known fish species.
3. Usually 0.005% salt
Some exceptions:
Great Salt Lakes-
5-27% salt
Dead Sea- 30% salt
4. Moving water- high elevations; cold; high O 2; trout;
streamlined plants
5. Standing water- lower elevations; warmer; less O 2;
bass, amphibians; cattails, rushes
6. There are three basic types of freshwater
ecosystems:
1. Lentic: slow-moving water,
including Pools, Ponds, and Lakes.
2. Lotic: rapidly-moving water, for
example Streams and Rivers.
3. Wetlands: areas where the soil is saturated
with water or inundated for at least part of
the time
Food Web: Micro level
 <0.2µm bacteria and viruses
 0.2-2µm prokaryotes
 2-20µm eukaryotes, fungal
zoospores,
macrozooplanktons…
 20-200µm phytoplanktons
 > 200µm multicellular
zooplankton,
 Food Web : Macro level
Primary
PrimaryProducers
Producers
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton
Plants
Plants
Algae
Algae

Herbivore
Herbivore Carnivore
Carnivore
Snail
Snail Cray
Crayfish
fish
Turtle
Turtle Bluegill
BluegillSunfish
Sunfish
Mussels
Mussels Large
Largemouth
mouthbass
bass
Aquatic
Aquaticinsects
insects Frog
Frog
Zooplankton
Zooplankton

Decomposers
Decomposers
 Biotic Components:
1) Producer Organisms:
1) It includes submerged, free floating and amphibious macrophytes (like;
Hydrilla, Utricularia, Wolfia, Azolla, Typha etc.) and minute floating and
suspended lower phytoplanktons (like; Ulothrix, Spirogyra, Oedogonium etc.)
2) Consumer Organisms:
1) Primary consumers: These are zooplanktons (ciliates, flagellates, other
protozoan, small crustaceans) and benthos.
2) Secondary consumers: These are carnivores like insects and fishes feeding on
herbivores
3) Tertiary consumers: These are the large fishes feeding on small fishes.

3) Decomposers: Micro – organisms like bacteria, fungi and

actinomyctes.

A biotic component:
These are the inorganic as well as organic substances present in the bottom soil or
dissolved in water. In addition, to the minerals, some dead organic matter is also
prese
Lakes & Pond Ecosystem:
1. A pond is a place where living organisms not only live but
interact with biotic & abiotic components.
2. Ponds are often exposed to tremendous anthropogenic pressure
which significantly affects the system.
3. Lakes are usually big standing freshwater bodies.
4. They have a shallow water zone called Littoral zone; an open
water zone where effective penetration of solar light takes place,
called Limnetic zone and a deep water zone where light
penetration is negligible, called Profoundal zone.

Pond ecosystem

Lake ecosystem
 Food Chain:
Snail
Pond
Carp
Phytoplankton
Turtle

Zooplankton

Bluegill
Frog

Bass
Mussels

Cray fish
Ponds and Lake
s
lake stratification: what lives in each
level
 Epilimnion- upper layer of warm
water; high light & O2; ex: water
striders, phyto- & zooplankton,
fish
 Thermocline (mesolimnion);
middle layer; medium light & O2;
ex: phyto- & zooplankton, fish
 Hypolimnion- lower layer of
cold water; lower light & O2; ex:
fish
 Benthos- bottom level; no light
& little O2; ex: anaerobic
bacteria, leeches; insect larvae
 Littoral- near the shoreline;
cattails, rushes, amphibians, etc.
Food Chain : Lake
Streams
& Rivers
 River
Continuum
Heterotrophic: respiration exceeds
production with photosynthesis
respiration ratio less than one. The
biotic community is dependent on
the organic matter washed in from
the terrestrial watershed

Autotrophic:Middle section the

streams become wider and less
shaded; algae, aquatic green
plantsgrow; species diversity reaches
the peak.

Down streams the river widens and

deepens: More no of tertiary
consumers dwell in this stretch of the
river.
Food Chain : Streams
 Importance of
Wetlands
 Highly productive- get lots of
sunlight, ↑ plants =
↑ animals
 Nesting, breeding ground for
migratory birds
 Slows flooding by absorbing
runoff

•Silt settles, making water clearer & nutrient rich

•Trap & filter water
•Natural chemical neutralize and detoxify pollutants
•Gives H2O time to percolate thru soil & replenish underground aquifers.
•Threats- artificial eutrophication, draining, sedimentation via construction
•“Nature’s Septic Tank”
 Wetlands
River Otter Damselfly Dragonfly Mayfly

Crayfish Snails Leech Bluegill Bass

Catfish Sculpin Minnow Snakes

Great Blue Heron Canadian Goose Frog Turtle

Transitional Communities
 WETLANDS
 Land saturated at least part of
the year
 Swamps- have trees like bald Swamp
cypress; high productivity
 Marshes- no trees; tall grasses;
high productivity
 Bogs/Fens- may or may not
have trees; waterlogged soil Marsh
with lots of peat; low
productivity
 Fens- fed by groundwater &
surface runoff
 Bogs- fed by precipitation

Bog
Fen
Transitional Communities: Estuaries
 Where freshwater dumps
into ocean
 Brackish (less salty than
seawater)
 Has rich sediments that
often form deltas
 Productive & biodiverse
 Organisms adapted to
varying levels of salinity as
tide ebbs & flows
 “Nursery” for larval forms
of many aquatic species of
commercial fish & shellfish
Food Chain : Estuaries
Estuary food chains often overlap, making food webs.
 Because many animals eat more than one thing, tracing
energy through the estuary can get messy.
Relative Importance Of Food Web Linkages
Primary (75-100% of Total)
Sanderlings,Long &
Secondary (50-74% of Total) Short-billed Whimbrel,
Great Blue Mallard, Northern
Tertiary (25-49% of Total) Heron Dowitchers, Greater Snow Goose,
Yellowlegs Shoveler, Pintail, Canada Goose,
Incidental (0-24% of Total) Western black Brant,
Sandpiper American coot

Penpoint
Gunnel Padded
Sculpin
Chum Crescent Bay
Pacific Salmon (juv.) Gunnel Pipefish Starry Snake
Staghorn Sharpnose Flounder (juv.) Prickleback
Sculpin Sculpin
Saddleback
Tidepool Shiner Gunnel
Sculpin Perch Gastropod
Buffalo Molluscs
Sculpin English
Sole (juv.)
Nemerteans
Small Fish (inc.
herring, perch) Bivalve
Molluscs
Cumaceans
Tubenose Polychaete
Poacher Gammarid Flabelliferan Annelids
Amphipods Isopods Tunicates
Gastropod
Silverspotted Harpacticoid Molluscs
Sculpin Mysids Copepods
Tanaids Hippolytid, Saltmarsh
Crangonid, Plants & Eelgrass
Brachyuran Benthic And Penaeid
Crabs Meiofauna Shrimp
Valviferan
Isopods
Macrophytic Phytoplankton
Algae
Microphytic Anthozoans
Algae
Detritus

From Simenstad et al. 1979

Inside Marine or Ocean
Ecosystem:
 Marine or Ocean Ecosystem:
1. Marine ecosystems are among the Earth's aquatic ecosystems. They
include: Oceans,  Estuaries and Lagoons, Mangroves and Coral reefs,
the Deep sea and the Sea floor.
2. These are the gigantic reservoirs of water covering approximately 71% of
the Earth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers).
3. These ecosystem is different from freshwater ecosystem mainly because
of its salty water.
4. The salt concentration in an open sea is usually 3.5% (35 parts per
thousand (ppt) ). Dominant ions are sodium & chloride.
5. Average temperature of Marine ecosystem is 2-3 degree centigrade, devoid
of light.
 Biotic components:
1) Producers: It includes phytoplanktons (diatoms, dinoflagillates), large
seaweeds (mainly algae like chlorophyceae, phaeophyceae &
rhodophyceae; angiosperms like Ruppia, Zostera, posidonia etc.), and
mangrove vegetation (like Rhizophora, Carapa etc.)
2) Consumers:
1) Primary consumers: These are herbivores and feed directly on
producers (Crustaceans, Mollusks, fish etc.)
2) Secondary consumers: These are carnivorous fishes(Herring,
Sahd and Mackerel)
3) Tertiary consumers: These are top carnivorous fishes (Cod,
Haddock, etc.)
3) Decomposers: These are micro – organisms like bacteria, fungi

A biotic components:
High Na, Ca, Mg and K salt concentration, variable dissolved oxygen
content, light & temperature make a unique physiochemical conditions in
marine water.
Food Chain : Ocean
Food Chain: Hot Springs

1. Autotropes: The photosynthetic mats by algae

2. Herbivores: Ephydrid flies in the cooler areas of
the spring which feed on bacteria and algae
3. Carnivores: Dolichopodid fly feeds on eggs of
larvae and herbivores
4. Decomposers

The simplest form of food chain

Table 1. Average net primary production and biomass of aquatic habitats.
Data from R.H. Whittaker and G.E. Likens, Human Ecol. 1: 357-369 (1973).
 Primary Production
biomass

zooplankton
phytoplankton

Winter Spring Summer Fall

North Atlantic- temperate climate

 Arctic

zooplankton
phytoplankton

Winter Spring Summer Fall

 Tropical

zooplankton
phytoplankton

Winter Spring Summer Fall

Pyramids
Eltonian Pyramid
 Usable energy available
at each trophic level
Heat
(in kilocalories)
Tertiary
consumers 10
(human) Heat

Secondary
consumers 100
(perch) Heat Decomposers Heat

Primary
consumers 1,000
(zooplankton) Heat
10,000
Producers
(phytoplankton)

Fig. 3-16, p. 52
 Ecological Pyramids
 Pyramid of
energy flow
 Ecological
efficiency
 Pyramid of
biomass
 Pyramid of
numbers
Energy loss between trophic levels
 Pyramids of biomass represent the
ecological consequence of low trophic
efficiencies.
 Less energy is transferred at higher trophic
levels.
 In some aquatic ecosystems, the pyramid is
inverted.

 phytoplankton grow, reproduce, and are

consumed rapidly.
 turnover time is short
 Pyramid of energy is always upright.
 It is so because at each transfer about 80 - 90% of the energy available at
lower trophic level is used up to overcome its entropy and to perform
metabolic activities.
 Only 10% of the energy is available to next trophic level (as per Lindemann's
ten percent rule).

Pyramid of Energy in a Food Chain