Freshwater Biomes

Freshwater Biomes• Freshwater biomes are characterized

by the speed at which the water is moving.

• Brooks, streams, andrivers are ecosystemsbased on moving water.

• Tributary- a trickle orstream that joins alarger stream.

Freshwater Biomes

• Organisms that live in fast moving water have special adaptations to avoid being swept away.

• Insect larvae live under rocks, and tadpoles use suction disks to hold onto rocks.

Melting Snow

Waterfall

Tributary

Lake or Ocean

Zones of Freshwater System

• Ponds and Lakes have different ecosystems than streams and rivers.

• Lake Superior is the largest lake in the world.

Litoral zone

Open-water zone

Deep-water zone

Zones of Freshwater

Zones of Freshwater

• A) Littoral Zone- area where the water meets the land.

-Animals include: snails, small arthropods, insects, clams, worms, frogs, salamanders, turtles, snakes and various kinds of fish

-Plants include: cattails, rushes, water lilies

Zones of Freshwater

• B) Open-water zone- extends from the littoral zone across the top of the water. Only goes as deep as light can reach

- Plants include: mostly phytoplankton

- Animals include: bass, blue gill, trout, and other fish

Zones of Freshwater• C) Deep-water zone- part of the water

where no light reaches and organisms feed on dead organic material.

- Plants include: no plant life

- Animals include: catfish, carp, worms, insect larvae,

crustaceans, fungi and bacteria.

Types of Freshwater Systems

• Three other types of freshwater ecosystems that we will discuss are:

-Wetlands

-Marshes

-Swamps

Wetlands

• An area of land where the water level is near or above the surface of the group for most of the year.

• Plays an important role, in flood control

• Support a variety of plant and animallife

Marshes

• A treeless wetland ecosystem where plants such as cattails and rushes grow.

• Some organisms nest near wetlands to escape large predators.

Swamps

• Type of wetland characterized by flooded trees.

• Spanish moss and vines grow on the trees.

• Water is very slow moving and causes lots of growth on top of the water.