AQUATIC BIOMES Practice

APES 2025-26

Most important abiotic conditions in aquatic biomes

Light and nutrients

Freshwater biomes

Streams (small, fast), rivers (big, slow), ponds (small), lakes (big), marshes (non-woody MOST PRODUCTIVE), bogs (acidic), swamps (woody MOST PRODUCTIVE)

Littoral zone

Freshwater - shallow area along edge

Limnetic zone/photic

Freshwater - middle zone that gets enough light for photosynthesis

Benthic zone

Freshwater - deeper, bottom, lots of nutrients, similar to profundal but profundal is right above it

Saltwater biomes

Intertidal (high/low tides, extreme conditions), coral reefs (shallow waters, photosynthesis, MOST PRODUCTIVE), open ocean (most productive in AGGREGATE), estuaries (where freshwater river meets ocean, MOST PRODUCTIVE), marshes (non-woody), swamps (woody, mangrove swamps are MOST PRODUCTIVE)

Coast-intertidal zone

Saltwater - nutrients near coast, photosynthesis, coral reefs/intertidal

Pelagic zone

Saltwater - vast majority of ocean, middle/deep depths

Benthic zone S

Saltwater - bottom with lots of nutrients (same as freshwater)

Upwelling

When nutrients are brought up from the bottom to the surface, aiding plants

Most productivity is found here

Coastlines