SECTION 1 FRESHWATER SYSTEMS

UNIT 4: AQUATIC ECOLOGY

CENTRAL CASE STUDY: STARVING THE
LOUISIANA COAST OF SEDIMENT
LOUISIANA IS LOSING 25MI2 OF COASTAL
WETLANDS ANNUALLY
WETLANDS SUPPORT A DIVERSITY OF
ANIMALS
THEY ALSO PROTECT COASTAL CITIES FROM
COASTAL STORMS
THESE WETLANDS ARE CREATED BY SEDIMENT
DEPOSITION FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
SEDIMENT COMES FROM THE MISSISSIPPIS
WATERSHED
NATURALLY WETLANDS WOULD SINK AND
DISAPPEAR WITHOUT SEDIMENT
REPLENISHMENT
 CENTRAL CASE STUDY: STARVING THE
LOUISIANA COAST OF SEDIMENT
MISSISSIPPI RIVER HAS BEEN
EXTENSIVELY MODIFIED BY HUMANS
OVER 2000 DAMS; DAMS SLOW
WATER AND SEDIMENT DROPS OUT
LEVEES ALONG THE MOUTH OF THE
MISSISSIPPI SPEED UP WATER AND
SHOOT SEDIMENT OUT INTO GULF
OF MEXICO
WITHOUT CHANGE TO THE CURRENT
SYSTEM, THESE ESSENTIAL WETLANDS
MAY DISAPPEAR
 FRESHWATER ON EARTH

FRESHWATER MAKES
UP ONLY ABOUT 2.5%
OF THE TOTAL WATER
ON EARTH
20% - STORED IN
AQUIFERS AS
GROUNDWATER
1% - SURFACE
WATER
79% - FROZEN IN
GLACIERS AND ICE
CAPS
 SOME PROPERTIES OF WATER
WATER IS EASILY ABLE TO ABSORB LARGE AMOUNTS OF
HEAT
THEREFORE, IT HAS A HIGH SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY
BUFFERS AQUATIC ORGANISMS FROM TEMPERATURE
SHOCK
WATER IS CONSIDERED THE UNIVERSAL SOLVENT
THIS MEANS MANY THINGS CAN DISSOLVE IN IT
MAKES IT EASY TO POLLUTE
WATER EXPANDS AS IT FREEZES
ICE IS LARGER AND LESS DENSE THAN LIQUID WATER
 THE PH SCALE
THE PH SCALE QUANTIFIES THE ACIDITY
OF SOLUTIONS
RANGES FROM 0 TO 14
ACIDIC SOLUTIONS: PH < 7
BASIC SOLUTIONS: PH > 7
NEUTRAL SOLUTIONS: PH = 7
THE PH SCALE IS LOGARITHMIC
A SUBSTANCE WITH PH OF 6
CONTAINS 10 TIMES AS MANY
HYDROGEN IONS AS A SUBSTANCE
WITH PH OF 7
SURFACE WATER
AS WATER FLOWS OVER
LAND, IT CONVERGES IN
LOW-LYING AREAS
THIS FORMS
FLOWING OR
STANDING BODIES OF
WATER
FLOWING
RIVERS AND
STREAMS
STANDING
PONDS, LAKES,
AND WETLANDS
Flowing Surface Water
 FLOWING SURFACE WATER
RIVERS AND STREAMS ARE FED BY AN AREA OF LAND WHERE WATER
RUNS INTO THEM
THIS IS THEIR WATERSHED (DRAINAGE BASIN)
AREAS SURROUNDING RIVERS AND STREAMS CAN PERIODICALLY BE
FLOODED
THIS AREA IS CALLED THE FLOODPLAIN AND THE SOIL HERE IS
GENERALLY VERY FERTILE
AT THE BEGINNING OF A RIVER OR STREAM, WATER IS CLEAR, COOL,
AND FULL OF O2 (in the mountains usually)
TOWARDS THE END OF THE RIVER, WATER IS SLOWER-MOVING,
WARMER, LESS OXYGENATED, AND HAS HIGHER LEVELS OF ALGAE
AND BACTERIA
Standing Surface
Water
 STANDING SURFACE WATER PONDS AND LAKES
BODIES OF OPEN, STANDING WATER; LARGE LAKES
ARE KNOWN AS INLAND SEAS (GREAT LAKES,
CASPIAN SEA, ETC.)
ZONES OF A POND OR LAKE
LITTORAL AREA ON THE EDGES OF THE BODY OF
WATER; HABITAT FOR ROOTED AQUATIC PLANTS
BENTHIC ENTIRE BOTTOM OF THE BODY OF WATER;
HABITAT FOR MANY INVERTEBRATES; NUTRIENTS
SUPPLIED FROM DETRITUS (DEAD MATTER)
LIMNETIC OPEN PORTION OF LAKE/POND WHERE
SUNLIGHT ALLOWS PHOTOSYNTHESIS FROM
PHYTOPLANKTON; SUPPORTS O2 PRODUCTION AND
ZOOPLANKTON POPULATIONS
PROFUNDAL WATER WHERE SUNLIGHT DOES NOT
PENETRATE; LOW O2 = FEW ANIMALS
 STANDING SURFACE WATER
WETLANDS
CAN OCCUR IN THE FORM OF
FRESHWATER MARSHES,
SWAMPS, BOGS, OR VERNAL
POOLS
WETLAND = LAND THAT IS
SATURATED WITH WATER
VALUABLE ECOSYSTEM
SERVICES
SLOW RUNOFF TO OCEAN
REDUCE FLOODING
RECHARGE AQUIFERS
FILTER POLLUTANTS
HOST MIGRATORY BIRDS
HUMAN EFFECTS ON WETLANDS

HUMANS DRAIN
WETLANDS FOR
AGRICULTURAL LAND
CANADA AND US =
LOST OVER OF ALL
WETLANDS
WE ALSO DRAIN FOR
FRESHWATER AND
INTRODUCE
POLLUTANTS
INTRODUCED POLLUTANTS CAN AFFECT D.O.
D.O. = DISSOLVED OXYGEN; AQUATIC ORGANISMS RELY ON
DISSOLVED OXYGEN FOR SURVIVAL (PRIMARILY FISH)
BIOLOGICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)
WHEN A BODY OF WATER UNDERGOES EUTROPHICATION OR
CULTURAL EUTROPHICATION (HUMAN INDUCED), D.O.
PLUMMETS DUE TO INCREASE IN ORGANIC WASTE (bacteria use it
to break down waste)
D.O. IS ALSO NATURALLY LOW IN DEEPER PARTS OF STANDING
WATER BODIES
TURBIDITY DESCRIBES THE AMOUNT OF SEDIMENT PRESENT IN
THE WATER; AFFECTS LIGHT TRANSMITTANCE
Thermal Stratification
 THERMAL STRATIFICATION
IN STANDING WATER (PRIMARILY TEMPERATE ZONE
LAKES - SEASONAL TEMPERATURE CHANGE), WATER
CAN SEPARATE INTO LAYERS BASED ON TEMPERATURE
DURING CERTAIN TIMES OF THE YEAR, THESE LAYERS
OVERTURN, MIXING D.O. AND NUTRIENTS
THROUGHOUT THE LAKE
 THERMAL STRATIFICATION

DURING THE SUMMER,

LAKES BECOME STRATIFIED
INTO DIFFERENT
TEMPERATURE LAYERS
THAT RESIST MIXING
BECAUSE SUMMER
SUNLIGHT WARMS
SURFACE WATERS,
MAKING THEM LESS DENSE
THERMOCLINE ACTS AS A
BARRIER TO MIXING OF
TWO LAYERS
 THERMAL STRATIFICATION -
MIXING

IN THE FALL AND

SPRING WHEN
TEMPERATURES
CHANGE FOR SURFACE
WATER, ITS DENSITY
CHANGES AND IT SINKS
OR RISES, CREATING
THE OVERTURNING OF
NUTRIENTS AND D.O.
FROM THE SURFACE