AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY RESTORATION ECOLOGY ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMSLANDSCAPE ECOLOGY

RESTORATION ECOLOGYECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

SUMBER: apesspring09.wikispaces.com/file/view/AQUATIC+ECOSYSTEMS.ppt

What are the basic needs of aquatic biota?

• CO2 • O2

• Sunlight• Nutrients- food &

minerals


What factors influence the availability of those basic needs?

• Substances dissolved in water- Nitrates, phosphates, potassium, O2

• Suspended matter- (silt, algae) can affect light penetration

• Depth• Temperature• Rate of flow• Bottom characteristics (muddy,

sandy, or rocky)• Internal convection currents• Connection to or isolation from

other aquatic ecosystems.


Types of Aquatic Ecosystems• Freshwater Ecosystems

– Standing Water- lakes & ponds– Moving Water- rivers &

streams• Transitional Communities

– Estuaries– Wetlands- bogs/fens, swamps,

marshes• Marine Ecosystems

– Shorelines– Barrier Islands– Coral Reefs– Open Ocean


Freshwater Ecosystems• Usually 0.005% salt

– Some exceptions:• Great Salt Lakes-

5-27% salt• Dead Sea- 30% salt

• Moving water- high elevations; cold; high O2; trout; streamlined plants

• Standing water- lower elevations; warmer; less O2; bass, amphibians; cattails, rushes


How is a lake stratified and 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.


Transitional CommunitiesESTUARIES

1. Where freshwater dumps into ocean2. Brackish (less salty than seawater)3. Has rich sediments that often form deltas4. Productive & biodiverse5. Organisms adapted to varying levels of

salinity as tide ebbs & flows6. “Nursery” for larval forms of many aquatic

species of commercial fish & shellfish


Transitional Communities

WETLANDS• Land saturated at least part of the year• Swamps- have trees like bald cypress; high

productivity• Marshes- no trees; tall grasses; high

productivity• Bogs/Fens- may or may not have trees;

waterlogged soil with lots of peat; low productivity– Fens- fed by groundwater & surface runoff– Bogs- fed by precipitation


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 rxns neutralize

and detoxify pollutants• Gives H2O time to percolate thru

soil & replenish underground aquifers.

• Threats- artificial eutrophication (see slide 13), draining, sedimentation via construction

• “Nature’s Septic Tank”


http://geoscape.nrcan.gc.ca/h2o/bowen/images/wetlands_e.jpg

Marine Ecosystems• SHORELINES• Rocky coasts- great density &

diversity attached to solid rock surface

• Sandy beaches- burrowing animals

• Threats- due to hotels, restaurants, homes on beach, more plant life destroyed, destabilizing soil, susceptible to wind & water erosion

• Insurance high; danger of hurricanes, erosion

• Build sea walls to protect people but changes & endangers shoreline habitat


Marine Ecosystems

BARRIER ISLANDS

1. Low, narrow offshore islands2. Protect inland shores from storms3. Beauty attracts developers = developers

destroy land4. New coastal zoning laws protect future

development


MARINE ECOSYSTEMS

CORAL REEF

1. Clear, warm shallow seas2. Made up of accumulated calcareous (made of

calcium) skeletons of coral animals3. Formation depends on light penetration.4. Have a symbiotic relationship with algae 5. Very diverse, abundant (rainforests of sea)6. Threats- destructive fishing (cyanide & dynamite to

stun fish), pet trade; about 3/4ths have been destroyed


What factors can alter aquatic ecosystems?

• Natural Succession- normal cycle of pond becoming forest

• Artificial Succession- humans add N & P to water via fertilizer & sewage causing succession to happen faster = EUTROPHICATION


What factors can alter aquatic ecosystems?

• Humans!–Find food–Recreation–Waste disposal–Cooling of power plants–Transportation–Dams, canals


Biomes• Which biome has the largest total area? The

smallest total area?• Which biome has the highest % of undisturbed

habitat?• Which biome has the lowest % of undisturbed

habitat?• Which biome has the highest % human

dominated habitat?• Which biome has the lowest % human

dominated habitat?


LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY


LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY1. Landscape- geographic unit with a history that

shapes the features of the land and organisms in it.

2. Landscape ecology- the study of how landscape structure affects the abundance and distribution of organisms.

3. Does not just focus on “untouched nature”


LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY• Uses geographical

information systems (GIS) to map patch size, type and configuration to create 3-D maps

• These maps assist land planners in analyzing land use patterns


LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY

Focus on how neighboring communities of a landscape interact


RESTORATION ECOLOGY

Chapter 10


RESTORATION ECOLOGY

1. Repair or reconstruct ecosystems damaged by humans or natural forces

2. Growing field of science3. People are now being held responsible for

their actions- restoring wetlands & habitat for endangered species


The 5 “R’s” of Restoration Ecology

1. Restoration- manipulation of nature to re-create species composition & ecosystem processes as close as possible to the state they were in before humans interfered.

Before

After



2. Rehabilitation- to bring an area back to a useful state for human purposes rather than a truly natural state.- reverse deterioration if can’t be restored fully

These people in Africa are trying to use rocks to create a sort of wind break to prevent wind erosion of their soil. The soil will never be like it was but it will hopefully be usable.



3. Remediation- process of cleaning chemical contamination from a polluted area by physical or biological methods to protect human & ecosystem health

- Incinerate soil contaminated with oil- use special bacteria to clean up oil spills in water (bioremediation)



4. Reclamation- techniques used to restore the shape, original contour and vegetation of a disturbed site

Surface Mining Control & Reclamation Act (SMCRA) requires mining operations to restore the open pit mines they create to

natural state.



5. Re-creation- attempts to construct a new biological community on a site so severely disturbed that there is virtually nothing left to restore.

- often must build a wetland elsewhere to make up for the one destroyed by developer- Read story of Army Corp of Engineers & Florida Everglades restoration


Preservationists vs. Restorationists

1. Preservationist- don’t start destructive projects in the first place. Preserve nature- “you can’t always fix what you broke”

2. Restorationists- you are never going to be able to save every bit of land. Who says changes we make in restoring ecosystems is unnatural?

3. Are we members of the community or separate from it?

4. Should we use our creative energies to try to improve nature, or should we leave well enough alone?


Tools of Restoration1. Prairies- collect native

prairie grasses from graveyards and plant in abandoned farm fields to reestablish native grasslands

2. Remove alien species- like privet @ nature center; hunting goats on Galapagos

3. Walk away from ecosystem & let recover naturally- N. & S. Korea after the Korean War


Restoration Ethics• If habitat was filled with diseased, ugly

organisms, should you return it to that state? Should you reintroduce mosquitoes, black flies, leeches, ticks, poisonous snakes?

• Should you improve on nature?• Where do you find plants for

restoration? Do you take from small population nearby or find larger population farther away?

• Is there more than one natural state? What is the history of the area?

• Since humans are part of nature, whatever changes we make to landscape also are natural. Is that true?

• Can we use nature to solve human problems? Read story on page 121 about Arcata, California’s artificial wetland project.

Canal in China Before

Canal in China AfterNotice plants used as filtering systemSUMBER: apesspring09.wikispaces.com/file/view/AQUATIC+ECOSYSTEMS.ppt

Ecosystem Management1. How can we have progress and still maintain

the environment?2. Aldo Leopold was one of the pioneers on his

Sand County farm3. US Forest Services, Bureau of Land

Management, National Park Service all adopted versions of ecosystem management

4. Previously, these agencies used their lands for commercial or recreational uses & did not focus on wildlife habitats, endangered species, etc.


Documents

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY RESTORATION ECOLOGY ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT