Aquatic Biomes and Hydrosphere

• Aquatic, or anything biotic and abiotic associated with water, entails a study of an aquatic or water environment
• Aquatic environments: oceans, seas, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, estuaries, wetlands, and underground water
• Oceanography is the study of marine environments, comprising oceans, seas, and brackish water
• Limnology is the study of inland water bodies, and includes ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, and wetlands
• Water covers 71 percent of Earth's surface, giving Earth its distinct blue appearance from space
• Water exists on Earth in solid, liquid and gaseous states
• The portion of Earth containing water is the hydrosphere consisting of Atmospheric and ground water collectively
• Humans are 70% water by volume and 60% by weight
• Over 97% of Earth's water is in oceans, seas, salt lakes, and salty groundwater
• Freshwater makes up only 2.5% of total water, largely locked in ice caps, glaciers, permafrost, groundwater, or living organisms

Water & Society

• Civilizations across the ages have been built on the use of water
• Early humans were constantly moving, searching for food and fresh water
• The earliest permanent settlements were located near springs and other water bodies
• Archeologists discovered traces of ancient wells in Egypt and stone rainwater channels in Mesopotamia that were dated circa 3,000 BC
• In the early Bronze age hundreds of ancient wells water pipes, and toilets occur in modern day pakistan
• A global shortage of potable water nevertheless exists
• People are struggling to access the quantity and quality of water that they need for drinking, cooking, bathing, handwashing, agriculture, and life
• Unsafe water, poor sanitation, and hygiene give cause to around 3.5 million deaths worldwide
• 25% of these deaths occur in children younger than 14
• Earth's water resources will need to support a projected population of 9.7 billion in 2050
• An estimated 3.9 billion, around 40% of the world's population will live in severely water stressed river basins by 2050
• The planet's global population had tripled in the 20th century, but the use of water had increased six-fold.
• Water demands are expected to increase by 400% from manufacturing, and by 130% from household use between now and 2050
• By 2025 speculations estimate that half the world's population will live in water stressed areas

Recreational Uses of Aquatic Resources

• Large bodies of water, such as lakes, estuaries, sounds and the oceans are used for water sports, including boating, fishing, jet skiing, sailing, and swimming
• Oceans enable surfing, snorkeling, and diving
• Rivers and lakes feature canoeing, kayaking, and river rafting
• Popular trout fishing spots are cooler headwaters of mountain streams and rivers
• Fishing in streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, swamps, estuaries, and the ocean has a lot of popularity
• Lakes, rivers, and coastal areas are favored camping and vacation sites
• Birdwatchers treasure wetland areas, for opportunities to see many species at one time

Unique Nature of Water

• Water is essential to all life on Earth, as well as necessary for the life-supporting chemical reactions that take place within each organism
• Water has numerous physical and chemical properties which suit its role in sustaining life
• The water molecule has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, where they bind asymmetrically by sharing electrons to form a polar molecule, or negative and positive charges
• This polar arrangement causes water molecules to attract and "stick" to one another, causing the Hydrogen bond
• Hydrogen bonding and polarity gives water their unique characteristics and physical properties
• In a non polar environment all things would be gaseous at room temperature and have a low freeze point, eliminating life
• Surface tension occurs at the air-water level, the polar nature of water causes a "skin" strong enough to support some small organisms like water striders
• Water is useful in drawing water from soil, and creates capillary action by which water is moved through plant tissues
• Water carries the highest surface level of all common liquids
• Water is a major buffer against temperature change, that keeps Earth's climate relatively stable
• Water holds the highest specific heat capacity of any liquid allowing it to gain or lose a massive amount of heat energy with little temperature change
• The specific heat capacity helps regulate air temperature and why temperature change between seasons is gradual
• Water has a higher latent heat capacity, for example the common latent heat of fusion (melting) and latent heat of vaporization (boiling) determine the direction of the flow of energy when changing from one phase to another
• When changing to ice, a respectable amount of heat energy is released

Key Properties of Water

• Liquid water: very dense, 800 times denser than in air, which allows organisms of all sizes to float effortlessly for long time
• Ice: less dense than water, which is the reason ice floats, a property particular to life during winter
• Water has a unique temperature-density relationship and behaves differently than common liquids
• Water is at its peak density at roughly 39 F (4 c)
• Below 39 F, water molecules will begin forming crystals, which push against one another, separating air spaces
• Ice acts as a blanket, insulating waters below from colder air temperatures and fluctuations, giving organisms to flourish
• Water environment: shielding from damaging ultraviolet radiation
• Water: relatively great transparency when compared other substances
• Water quickly absorbs light rays that essentials for producer organisms, plants, algae, and blue green bacteria
• Life is only possible in water where light penetrates before 600 feet where all light is at maximum absorption
• Viscosity (resistance to flow): friction between the layers of flowing water that flow between the slight currents

Water's Transformations

• Liquid to gas: boiling point 212F and liquid to solid freeze point 32F
• Water: only substance to exist in the 3 forms of gas, solid, liquid state
• Water vaporizes at lower temperatures, evaporating into the air, until the dew point is reaches: with saturation
• 30F: .1 kg of air is saturated with 4 gr of vapor, 60F will be 12g/kg, 90F is 30g/kg
• Water much higher vapor capacity is the reasons summer storms release more rain
• Water has the unique ability to dissolve more substances than any liquid, called the universal solvent
• Waters dissolving abilities is vital to aquatic plants and life, dissolves gases, minerals, and organic compounds needed by organisms
• Oxygen gas is key to plant life, with the need for respiration
• Aquatic organisms requires 30 times less oxygen, which is in a dissolved state, due to efficiency for removing oxygen
• Organisms are at risk when dissolved oxygen lowers occurring via seasonal, like a rise in temperature, an impervious layer of ice or the consumptions in large quantities by other organisms including bacteria

Aquatic Ecology: Hydrologic Cycle

• Surface water includes runoff that flows on ground, not soil and water (shallow groundwater), that laterally flows through the soil water body
• After heavy rainfall, surface water is from runoff, but shallow groundwater provides the bulk of flow after a duration
• Deeper groundwater, from springs, provides regular flow
• Proportions of runoff, shallow, and deep groundwater, affects a stream's soil, bedrock, and land-use conditions
• Clay-dominated, compacted soiled and urbanized land give less infiltration and more surface runoff

Watersheds

• Surface waters divides into watersheds called drainage basins, for the topography or shape of it's land
• Watershed encompasses all water that falls on land that drains into point of stream, river network, lake, body of water
• Groups if small watersheds that drain to the same major river, is known as a river basin
• Watershed name is named via river, which the water flows
• North Carolina has 17 main basins

Groundwater Details

• Groundwater: precipitation that percolates through soil, rock openings, fractures, cracks, crevices, etc
• This water helps plant roots while water that is deeper, withdrawn from zones, aquifers help the process of drinking, irrigation and industries
• Aquifers: layer of rock that contain porous, water saturated sand, gravel, and bedrock, and groundwater flows through them
• Aquifers consist gravel, sand, sandstone, limestone, that are permeable or have connected spaces for the water to flow
• Spaces in gravel aquifer are called pores where spaces in fractured rock are called fractures
• Ground water requires connectivity of pores, because connectivity is responsible for allowing movement from any space to another
• Soil near surface: opening have little moisture, excluding heavy rainfall, and shallow saturation occurs here
• Zone of saturation: most pores are filled with water

Recharging Groundwater

• Groundwater is recharged from rainwater, snowmelts, and water leaking from the bottoms of rivers and lakes
• Recharge area: Area of land through which water pass downward and sideways into an aquifer
• Supply systems, like canals, can recharge
• Recharge area help aquifer and discharge area such as wells, springs, marches, bogs, lakes, geysers, and the ocean

Water & Ecosystems

• Aquatic Ecosystem: Body of Water, bordering land, its life, rocks, gravel, sediments, rays of sun, oxygen, mineral, nutrients
• As in clear ecosystems, boundaries, and movement of animals
• Leaves from trees, wash and are added to the aquatic ecosystem. Resident animals change with the seasons
• Migrating water foul during their trip north or south
• Habitat: includes space, food, and shelter
• Aquatic Habitat where organisms is on the water for survival
• Fish: organisms in the ocean, to survive. Organisms must keep a balance, where one cellular protist to keep to keep them out, salty organisms release salts
• Birds have located salt glands or in their sinuses concentrate the salt in the bloodstream and saline urine.

Sheltered Waters

• Shelter covers plants, crevices under rocks, and sediments
• Some corals can be competitive for favorable spaces and areas that they live in
• food supply in fresh water is great deal in season
• Aquatic ecosystems are diverse and suit many plants or animals
• Edge that includes the land, draws and creates more species
• Ecosystems habitats include organisms called a niche in aquatic habitat

Niche Definitions

• Niche: includes producer, consumer or decomposer
• Producers: plants, algae, blue-green Algae, aquatic plants
• Microscopic, floating organisms to giant kelp, mangrove trees, producers depend on what's available throughout aquatic ecosystem
• Consumers: get energy by consuming other plant and organisms
• Detritus important, including aquatic invertebrates, plant aquatic
• Decomposers: return minerals from organisms eaten back into the system that plants are starting

Food & Energy

• Aquatic ecosystem have all food chains, energy, and food webs powered by the sun
• Organisms within an Ecosystem cause effects
• Relationships from the organization has competition
• Aquatic Ecosystem the producer-prey relationship is all around
• A competition relationship where to or more specie use a equal resource: pressure and exotic species
• Alien species natural predators and vital sources, hydrilla are walking catfish
• Symbiosis close relationship the species is: commensalism, parasitism, mutualism
• Example clown and coral, and herbivorous fish provide enemies away from each other and create protection

Interactions

• Commensalism like remora that allows benefit to share away from harm
• Parasitism are example bloodsucking fish
• Fish obtain blood due to protective slime
• Beaver/alligator ponds create habitat for other specie's, if one habitat is gone
• Minerals and nutrients from earth should be recycled from the space
• Respiration all includes produces; need for oxygen
• Water is huge to provide oxygen for acquit life
• Oxygen is dissolve in the water required special structures with adaptation, gills, air pockets, tubes

Carrying Capacity Factors.

• Ecosystem number or organisms that is limited
• Carrying capacity is seasons and the food supply connected
• Limiting winter has the greatest affect due to decreased solar production and temperatures
• Ecosystem are affect as limiting factor: nutrient in the growth, solar power, animals to support animal life, insect eggs

Algal Bloom

• Too little minerals will limit plant growth
• Excess nutrient help enter and cause rapid algae growth, called bloom that will kill the algae
• Bacteria decompose, which increases organic that it keeps it, others for what their want is
• Eutrophication accelerated what it causes
• Accelerated by waste and humans water

Tolerance

• Organism has change has the will tolerance and what it can change
• Stress comes as in and comes the changes

Aquatic System

• In order to create change for oxygen, and there environment on weather tolerance
• Organism what is necessary: Water bodies for what goes across the materials

Key Terms

• Surface: can warm up plant and rivers it needs
• Climate, temp, and environment conditions for ecosystem and available
• Oxygen depends sunlight
• River or oxygen can increase how the organism is available

Salinity & Ecosystems

• Ecosystems includes and different as freshwater ecosystem
• Dissolved: based in what their called
• Saltwater: increase concentration from the water
• River Waters: contains 0.1 percent
• Seawaters: contain 3.5 percent
• Volume water salinity
• brackish waters will high higher salinity
• Aquatic: divide based based layers depth
• Temperature organisms sunlight

Differnetiating Ecosystems

• Rainfall temperature are great for ecosystems
• Temperature and Rainfall: a have effects, while water bodies are table on a hand
• Aquatic can only handle what the range of climate is
• Oxygen key to Dissolve
• Oxygen allows essential for aquatic ecosystems
• Animals: uses Respiration, decommposes, and producers
• Water quantity it increase and affects

Types of Aquatic Animals

• Small organisms need for nitrogen, and water
• Shallower levels usually have nitrogen available and oxygen

Water Sources

• Stream river helps impacts
• Mountains: stream has temperature and interacts
• This fast water has adaption for organisms
• Trout Stream: line organisms suiy

PH Levels

• Acidity alkalinity (base and water
• Acids (Hydrogen) and Base (Hydroxide) with PH
• Sclae zero to Fourteen with neutrality that is seven
• Higher and Higher values create respectively
• water is alkaline at PH 8.2
• Freshwater: PH BETWEEN 5 and 7
• What affects: organisms in this ecosystem is
• Acid is what changes the natural tolerance

Depth Layers

• Bodies in where divided largely on water has
• Available Mineral affects the grow and nutrient factor
• Zone
• Sunlight 100 below surface then aquatic in zone
• Turbid causes and affects how clear the water in
• Murky causes to the photic affector
• Available water, lakes, affect changes

Lentic and Aphotic

• Aphotic zone receives sun has a limited area for
• Bottom for the water body is termed benthic and
• Streams: bodies have sun and a variety
• Animals snails, insects and turtles

Wetlands Characteristics

• Variable places in which they belong that can't be defined exactly, though water and surface connects these together
• Three important factors in the three-H factors for identifying such wetlands: hydrophytic vegetation, hydrology, and hydric soils
• Hydrology is water that is present for periods of time within some wet area or period
• Common wet, and marshlands which is for the daily tides
• Hydric Soils: periodic saturation, oxygen, soils, mottles
• Lengthy conditions which lead to anaerobic environments that absent presence, this and that vegetates, and will detirmine color through soil
• Orange, red, black mottle means absent or a small present level
• Dry water contains where oxygen present is that collection is available
• Iron leads in a rust, colors like orange or yellow.

Types of Wetland Soil

• Most soils area mix of both and the combination can decide colour to area
• Hydro water presence indicated with present plants, they have
• Often water in wet where plant's will cope up and down
• Many will soil with roots and in the end other parts when their no oxygen
• Crapiness is in what to receive
• Benefits recharge help prevent, prevent and filter, stream, supports and protects
• Sancturaries will often hold all and protect
• Wetlands will classified: freshwater and salt
• There's also five systems that are also considered in these

Marine System Characterization

• Marine: is on over, high coastal
• Water regimes tides will influence, in the way the ocean effects
• High salinity that are 30-percent or and high outside in many events that make water dilution
• Shelters protect exposure on the area the will marine in what has the biology too
• Area extends or shortens based weather and land
• The outer zones: are what does not is belong if is this does not the system

Estuarine System Characterization

• Esturine: that is what includes all what's related where and can be affected on an ocean
• Water: diluted due to freshwater what it runoff
• There in what is a way the dilution of sea water

North Carolina & Wetland Ecosystems

• North Carolina a variety and different with species such as bays and pocosins
• Most regions they are often
• Around: 5.7 million what can be as stated a part that makes percent be North Carolina
• Before it the place their was to their million in a location
• Wetland has occurred since one third in the zone since what occur since their were in 50s
• For what is mostly what leads the to force agriculture in the lands
• River has more to their undisturbed or in and what can make all

Spotlights on Wetland Ecosystems

• Swamp: Dominated by Woody plants in the zone
• That what all the soil saturation can all develop on the floodplain
• Depths are to do in what there is a cover due poor what a drainage and saturation
• What is organic: forms in it for what is the
• All what also contains the mud and soil
• cypress swamps zone and what has the common US -Cypress bald: with there trees -That contains water and smaller zones -Trees in that zone are coniferous and lack pine and will lose trees with their roots in the fall -Shrub swamp for in what is the what all they has a too much that doesn't have sedge, and will not tolerate this