Where on earth is FRESHWATER?
About three-quarters of Earth is covered by water (including salt and fresh water). Freshwater biomes are found throughout the world. Freshwater biomes have almost no salt --meaning that the amount of salt is less than 1% as compared to water in the ocean that is 3.5% salt.
Freshwater biomes include: wetlands, streams, lakes, rivers, and ponds. Most freshwater is frozen, though. It is in ice caps and icebergs. Most plants and animals cannot use the frozen water. This means only 1 percent of all the water on Earth is usable freshwater!
Freshwater biomes include: wetlands, streams, lakes, rivers, and ponds. Most freshwater is frozen, though. It is in ice caps and icebergs. Most plants and animals cannot use the frozen water. This means only 1 percent of all the water on Earth is usable freshwater!
Physical Features
It is important to identify not only the biotic factors of the freshwater biome, but also the abiotoic features. Abiotic factors are the non-living things that affect the living things in the freshwater community. Environmental things like sun, temperature, and wind are examples of abiotic factors.
Interestingly, the study of freshwater is usually divided into two different categories. Lentic is the ecological study of still water (like ponds and marshes) and lotic is the ecological study of running water (like rivers and streams).
- The light from the sun helps plants carry out photosynthesis. Many other things affect the amount of sunlight like the angle of the sun, amount of clouds, tree density and longitude, latitude, and altitude.
- The heat from the sun makes the freshwater biome the right temperature for different things to live -- both plants and animals.
- Wind is also an important abiotic factor. A calm body of water can be moved by wind which changes the amount or distribution of living things in the water.
- The ecosystem in a freshwater biome can even be affected on a chemical level by abiotic factors like the amount of oxygen in the water and the balance of natural chemicals in the water (called Ph balance - the amount of acid something has).
Interestingly, the study of freshwater is usually divided into two different categories. Lentic is the ecological study of still water (like ponds and marshes) and lotic is the ecological study of running water (like rivers and streams).
Native Plants & their Adaptations
Some plants that are native to the fresh water biome are: water lilies and cattails, algae,
Brine Spike,
swampfrond,
Tamarack,
Deerflower,
Myrtle,
False Ivy, Water Forget-me-nots, ammania gracilis, barclaya longifolia, and caboma cacoliniand. Plants like these are important to this biome because they give out oxygen and make food through photosynthesis. All of the plants and animals in freshwater biomes have adapted to the low salt concentration in the water. Another adaptation that these aquatic plants have developed is a special root structure that keeps them stable so they are not uprooted in fast streams or running waters. They have strong roots that “glue” them to the bottom of the water, or stick them to rocks.
Wildlife & their Adaptations
There are many animals that are native to fresh water including many types of fish (trout, carp, crayfish, sunfish, bass, catfish, Bowfin catfish); worms and algae (flagellates, wrigglers, diatoms, leeches); birds (ducks, geese, swans, heron, egrets); insects (skaters, water beetles, mosquitoes, dragonflies, spiders); mammals (river rats, muskrats, otters, minks); and even amphibians and reptiles (snakes, turtles, Hendrickson turtle, painted turtle, alligators, salamanders, frogs).
All of these animals have adapted to the low salt concentration in the water. Some more specific adaptations include the following:
All of these animals have adapted to the low salt concentration in the water. Some more specific adaptations include the following:
- Fish like trout have adapted to living in rivers and streams where water is cooler, clearer, and has more oxygen
- Fish like catfish and carp have adapated to live at the mouth of freshwater bodies where the sand and mud make a murky environment
- Insects like skaters, water beetles, mosquitoes and dragonflies skim over the surface of ponds and are a food source for other animals. Their bodies are lightweight and have adapted to skimming the surface like this.
- Some spiders that live in the freshwater biome have adapted to be able to take a bubble of air with them underwater!
- Animals like badgers, otters, and minks live near water have adapted to be very good swimmers in order to catch their main source of food -- fish. Otters also have special physical adaptations that help them swim in the water and move on land.
- Amphibians have adapted to start their lives underwater as eggs or tadpoles and then move to land as adults.
Freshwater Biome: War & Peace
As with any ecosystem, the freshwater biome is not without competition (war) and cooperation (peace) between and among and between species.
An example of cooperation is the relationship between plants and animals. Plants produce oxygen for animals and help freshwater animals get food; animals produce CO2 that is used in photosynthesis
Examples of competition might include:
An example of cooperation is the relationship between plants and animals. Plants produce oxygen for animals and help freshwater animals get food; animals produce CO2 that is used in photosynthesis
Examples of competition might include:
- Marshland birds and fish fighting over insects they both eat for food
- Animals like Beavers competing for territory – where to build their dam
- Freshwater mammals competing for fish that they both eat for food