WATER IN THE ECOSYSTEMS Block 3

Look at the picture…. What kinds of aquatic ecosystems are there on Earth?

Are they freshwater or saltwater ecosystems?

Are they freshwater or saltwater ecosystems?

SALTWATER

SALTWATER

SALTWATER

FRESHWATER

FRESHWATER

FRESHWATER

FRESHWATER

Types of aquatic ecosystems

There are two types of aquatic ecosystems:•Freshwater or inland ecosystems.•Saltwater or marine ecosystems.

Types of aquatic ecosystems

Inland or freshwater ecosystems have important factors such as: light, dissolved gases and temperature.

Types of aquatic ecosystems

freshwater ecosystems

Look at the pictures and say what you see.

Ecosystems of static water. They can be very small like Cuicocha in Ecuador, or very big like the Titicaca in Bolivia. Water plants and algae grow on the surface.

Lakesfreshwater ecosystems

freshwater ecosystems

Look at the pictures and say what you see.

They begin in the mountains and contain a lot of oxygen. Plants grow on the rocks and fish are abundant.

Riversfreshwater ecosystems

freshwater ecosystems

Look at the pictures and say what you see.

They are frequently flooded by fresh or seawater. Lots of insects, birds and reptiles live there.

Swamps and Wetlandsfreshwater ecosystems

Look at the pictures and say what you see.

Marine ecosystems provide human beings with great quantities of food and other resources. Abiotic factors that regulate these ecosystems are: light, dissolved salt, temperature and ocean currents. These ecosystems are:

Types of aquatic ecosystems

Marine ecosystems

Look at the pictures and say what you see.

Large algae and microscopic plants produce the greatest amount of oxygen on the planet by photosynthesis. It is the home of invertebrates like jellyfish, anemones, starfish, coral and octopuses (octopi), and vertebrates like fish and marine mammals.

OceansMarine ecosystems

Marine ecosystems

Oceans

Marine ecosystems

Large algae

Oceans

Marine ecosystems

Oceans

Microscopic plants(Phytoplankton)

Marine ecosystems

Oceans

Marine ecosystems

Oceans

Jellyfish

Marine ecosystems

Oceans

Marine ecosystems

Oceans

Marine ecosystems

Anemone and Clown Fish

Oceans

Marine ecosystems

Look at the pictures and say what you see.

SwampsMarine ecosystems

Salinity in this ecosystem is less than that of the ocean.

Marine ecosystems

Look at the pictures and say what you see.

EstuariesMarine ecosystems

An estuary is a partially enclosed body of water along the coast where freshwater from rivers and streams meets and mixes with salt water from the ocean.

A very large biological productivity and biodiversity is found in this ecosystem.

Marine ecosystems

Look at the pictures and say what you see.

Coral reefsMarine ecosystems

They are formations produced from the remains of living things in tropical water that gather in colonies of corals. There are fish, crabs, starfish, urchins and others.

Look at the pictures and say what you see.THiNK!

THiNK!

An ecosystem should have living things that interact among themselves and with the non-living factors such as the sunlight, water, air and soil.

INLAND ECOSYSTEMMARINE ECOSYSTEM

THiNK!Look at the pictures and say

what you see.

THiNK!Do you think that a swimming pool is an

ecosystem?

STAY COOL!