Freshwater ecosystems support a variety of plant and animal life. Common freshwater plants include algae, water lilies, and duckweed which grow on or near the water's surface. These plants provide food and shelter for animals while also improving water quality through photosynthesis and filtration. Common freshwater animals are small, like water fleas and amphibians, and feed on plants or each other. Saltwater ecosystems include oceans, estuaries, mangroves, and coral reefs. Estuaries support eelgrass plants which provide food and habitat. Ocean plants include phytoplankton and coral. Ocean animals are divided into zooplankton, nekton, and benthos depending on their

1. Freshwater Ecosystems
(lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams)

2. Plants
Pond and Lake plants (float on top)
1. Algae
2. Water lilies
3. Duck weed

3. Pond and Lake plants—grow on the shoreline
• Reeds
• Cattails

4. Functions of Freshwater Plants
• provide oxygen through photosynthesis and food for
animals in this ecosystem
• their leaves also capture small bits of organic matter
which are dragged by the water current
• help filter the water regulating some harmful
chemicals
• provide shelter to smaller fish
• used as substrate to place eggs of an organism
Producers, consumers, or decomposers?

5. Freshwater Animals—Producers, consumers, or decomposers?
*Most common are extremely small animals
such as cladoceran, otherwise known as
water fleas—feed on blue green algae which is common in
freshwater ecosystems, other animals feed on the flea.
*Amphibians such as salamanders thrive in freshwater
*Otters

6. Saltwater Ecosystems
(include oceans, salt marsh and intertidal
ecology, estuaries and lagoons, mangroves and coral reefs, the deep
sea and the sea floor)
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or
more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the
open sea.

7. • Plants modify coastal ecosystems by trapping sediments, slowing down currents,
producing food, and giving shelter to organisms.
*Eelgrass--This plant helps to stabilize the bottom with
its roots, allowing organisms such as Crabs and Lobsters to
move around on it. Accumulations of dead Eelgrass are
often found along beaches, enriching other ecosystems.
In the early 1930s an epidemic destroyed close to 90 per cent of Eelgrass beds along
the Atlantic coast, seriously affecting the organisms that were associated with
them. Brant (a type of goose) rely on Eelgrass as food during migration, and were
greatly reduced in numbers. Brant and Eelgrass are still recovering to this day.
Estuary Plants

8. Estuary Animals
• Catfish, sheepshead, silver perch and grouper
• Spiny lobsters

9. Ocean Plants--FYI
• Coral is NOT a plant.
• Two types: rooted and drifting
• Rooted plants only in shallow water
• Most of the ocean is not capable of
supporting rooted plants (lack of sun)

10. Ocean Plants
• most abundant plants in
the ocean are known as
phytoplankton
• single-celled, minute
floating plants that drift
throughout the surface
waters of the ocean
• To grow, phytoplankton
need nutrients from the sea
water and lots of sunlight

11. Ocean Animals—A Breakdown
The ocean food web:
Marine animals are divided
into three groups:
zooplankton (those that
float), nekton (those that
actively swim) and benthos
(those that live on or in the
ocean bottom).

12. Ocean Animals
• The jellyfish and the Portuguese man-of-war are examples of larger types of zooplankton
which are unable to propel themselves effectively and are therefore at the mercy of either
wind or current.
• Nekton are the free swimmers and probably the largest portion of familiar animals found in
the ocean belong to this class. Common fishes, the octopus, whales, eels and squid are
nekton.
• The third type of sea animal spends its entire life on or in the ocean bottom. This group of
marine animals is called the benthos. It includes lobsters, starfish, various worms, snails,
oysters and many more.

13. Pacific Northwest —Coastal Rain Ecosystem
Plants
***Moss-draped trees and forest floors are the
essence of the coastal rain forest where rainfall
often exceeds 140 inches annually. Here trees
are of truly massive size. The world’s largest
living spruce, the Queets Sitka Spruce is found
in Washington’s coastal rain forest along with
several other close contenders for the title.
***While everything seems draped
and bedded in moss, big-leaf
maples and vine maples are
common hosts to a plethora of
epiphytes (plants which grow on
plants) including mosses, lichens,
and even little ferns like the licorice
fern.

14. Pacific Northwest-Animals
• Grizzly bears
• Salmon
• Marbled Murrelet—nests
in the trees at night and
feeds in the ocean during
the day

15. Tropical Rainforest--
Plants
• Strangler Fig:
– One of the most important
– Figs bear fruit several times a year
• S -In some forests up to 70% of its animal's diets depend on
figs, and the number of fruit-eaters determines the number of
predators predators of fruit-eaters.
Bougainvillea: very abundant/not at all
endangered—since it is vine like, it can
spread quickly, doesn’t have seeds, no
insects, and thorns protect it.

16. Tropical Rainforest--Animals
• Chimpanzee (endangered): For the most part, chimps forage on the
ground. While searching for food, troops will move around their territory,
never staying long in one place. This allows the vegetation to recover
before the chimps return to the area again. They do not compete for food
with monkeys, who forage mostly in the canopy.
Jambu Fruit Dove (threatened)
Golden Lion Tamarin (most
endangered
mammal in the
world)--their
predators consist of
poachers, snakes, ocelots,
bamboo rats, wild dogs, and owls—nest high in the canopy
with their families.

17. Grasslands

18. North American Prairie--Plants
Big Bluestem
Grass—also called
Turkey Feet
(can get to be 12 inches
long and 1/2 inch wide )
has very deep roots-- This
kept the wind that
constantly blows on the
prairie from blowing
away the dirt. When
settlers plowed the big
bluestem grass there
was nothing to keep the
dirt from blowing away.
That is how the dust
bowl disaster of the
1930s began.
Stinging Nettle--The stinging sensation is
caused by formic acid which covers the tiny
hairs of the plant.

19. North American Prairie--Animals
•
The graceful pronghorn antelope is another staple
resident of the North American prairie. Also well
suited to prairie life, the pronghorn can run up to
60 mph thanks to their long legs, enlarged heart
and wide trachea. They also have powerful vision
and can spot a predator from two miles away.
These mammoth
herbivores are well
suited to the cold
winters of the
prairie, with their
large sizes and
warm coat. They
roam in large herds
and protect their
young by encircling
them during
threats.
Pronghorn Antelope Buffalo

20. Desert
• http://www.neok12.com/Deserts.htm
• http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert.htm
http://www.neok12.com/php/watch.php?v=zX0571505e0e7b725a057602&t=Deserts

21. Tundra/Arctic
• http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/tundra.htm