FRESHWATER BIOME
FRESHWATER BIOME
defined as having a low salt concentration usually less than 1%. Plants and animals in freshwater regions are adjusted to the low salt content and would not be able to survive in areas of high salt concentration
temperature
average temperatures range from 65 F
to 75 F in the summer and
35 F to 45 F in the winter. The
climate of freshwater biomes is
determined by a number of factors
including location, season and
depth of water as the most
prominent ones.
Types of freshwater biome
1. Ponds and lakes 2. Streams and rivers
3. Wetlands
Ponds and lakes
Also called as STILL WATER A pond is a body of water shallow enough to support rooted plants. Many times plants grow all the way across a shallow pond. There is little wave action and the bottom is usually covered with mud. Plants can, and often do, grow along the pond edge
Examples of ponds
Pond of Zabierzw, Poland
melt pond in Artic Ice
Ponds and lakes
A lake is bigger than a pond, and is too deep to support rooted plants except near the shore. Some lakes are big enough for waves to be produced.
During spring and fall the lake temperature is more uniform. Fish and other animals are found throughout the layers of the lake.
Ponds and lakes
Even in cold climates, most lakes are large enough so that they don't freeze solid, unlike ponds. A layer of ice can develop on the top of lakes during winter. The ice blocks out sunlight and can prevent photosynthesis. Without photosynthesis, oxygen levels drop and some plants and animals may die. This is called "winterkill."
Taal lake of the Philippines
A pink lake is a lake that has a reddish or pink colour due to the presence of algae that produces carotenoids (organic pigments), such as Dunaliella salina a type of halophile green micro-algae especially found in sea salt fields.
Lake Hillier, West Australia
littoral zone.
- warmest - (like diatoms), rooted and floating aquatic plants, grazing snails, clams, insects, crustaceans, fishes, and amphibians. - the egg and larvae stages are found in this zone. Limnetic Zone - near-surface open water - dominated by plankton, both phytoplankton and zooplankton. - A variety of freshwater fish also occupy this zone. Euphotic/Profundal Zone - much colder and denser than the other two - Little light penetrates this zone - The fauna are heterotrophs, meaning that they eat dead organisms and use oxygen for cellular respiration.
Streams and rivers
Also called as RUNNING WATER bodies of flowing water moving in one direction. they get their starts at headwaters, which may be springs, snowmelt or even lakes, and then travel all the way to their mouths, usually another water channel or the ocean.
Streams and rivers
The temperature is cooler at the source than it is at the mouth. The water is also clearer, has higher oxygen levels, and freshwater fish such as trout and heterotrophs can be found there. the middle part of the stream/river, the width increases, as does species diversity numerous aquatic green plants and algae can be found.
Toward the mouth of the river/stream, the water becomes murky from all the sediments that it has picked up upstream, decreasing the amount of light that can penetrate through the water. Since there is less light, there is less diversity of flora, and because of the lower oxygen levels, fish that require less oxygen, such as catfish and carp, can be found.
PAGSANJAN FALLS IN THE PHILIPPINES
a 318-ft (97 meters) waterfalls located at the town of Cavinti, Laguna.
Nile River in Egypt
WETLANDS
A lowland area, such as a marsh or swamp, that is saturated with moisture, especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife. Some wetlands are actually certain times of the year! dry at
WETLANDS
Wetlands have many important functions that benefit people and wildlife. - Provide habitat for a wide variety and number of wildlife and plants. - Filter, clean and store water - in other words, acting like kidneys for other ecosystems! - Collect and hold flood waters. - Absorb wind and tidal forces. - Provide places of beauty and many recreational activities
WETLANDS
Wetlands also act like sponges by holding flood waters and keeping rivers at normal levels. Wetlands filter and purify water as it flows through the wetland system. Plants found in wetlands help control water erosion
Wetlands in Tobago
Wetlands of Candaba, Apalit, Pampanga
PLANTS
numerous aquatic plants are classified according to how their leaves grow: submersed, emersed, or floating.
SUBMERSED PLANTS
Submersed leaves are thin, narrow, highly segmented and flexible. Submersed freshwater plants get relatively little sunlight
PONDWEED
QUILLWORT
EMERSED PLANTS
emersed freshwater plants are very similar to those of plants that grow on land and are capable of absorbing an abundance of sunlight.
CATTAILS
SKUNK CABBAGE
FLOATING PLANTS
The leaves of floating plants lie flat on the water's surface to take full advantage of the sunlight.
WATER LILIES
FLOATING HEART
ANIMALS
Animals and plants found in freshwater biomes, like rivers, have adapted to life there. Most of them would not be able to survive in aquatic biomes with high salt content, like oceans and seas.
RAINBOW TROUT
CATFISH
mudpuppies
salamander
Spiny river snail
References:
: http://www.defenders.org/wetlands/basicfacts#sthash.15UmATrZ.dpuf http://bioexpedition.com/freshwater-biome/ http://www.ehow.com/facts_7582314_freshw ater-ecosystems.html http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biom es/freshwater.php
