Freshwater Ecology - Unit 1

Ecology

the study of the interaction between an organism and its environment

Goldilocks Zone

orbital distance where liquid water sits on a planet’s surface

Water withdrawal

water diverted or removed from a surface or groundwater source

Water consumption

use of water that does not return to its source

Millenium Ecosystem Assessment

studies human impact and “ecosystem services”

Ecosystem services

values humans gain from healthy ecosystem

Describe influences of water on human lives

Need it to regulate temperature, hygiene, food source, electricity, economics, body functions

What defines the potential habitability of planets?

Needs to be at a temperature where liquid water is on the planet’s surface

Explain the connection between human distribution and water runoff

Human populations are often more dense around areas that get the most water runoff

Which activity accounts for most of our global water withdrawal? What percentage is attributed to this activity?

Agriculture at 70%

While the U.S. population is rising, what is happening with the total amount of water we use?

It is starting to decrease

Name the top 3 uses of water withdrawal in the U.S.

Thermoelectric, irrigation, public supply

How does domestic vs. agricultural use change with level of development of a country?

The more developed a country, the more water use is for domestic and industrial purposes, rather than agriculture

Explain how the phrase “dilution is the solution to pollution” may have made more sense historically, but does not work presently

Concentration of waste products has increased

New types of waste production which organisms have no evolutionary experience

Biomagnification

Label the water cycle

1. Evaporation

2. Transpiration

3. Condensation

4. Precipitation

5. Runoff

6. Infiltration

Name some ways humans and climate change can alter the water cycle

Not creating spaces for water to infiltrate into the soil, higher temperatures changing how much water evaporates and where the water goes

Explain how the GRACE satellite monitors water on Earth

When pulled to a water source with a high mass, one satellite slows and gets closer to the second, and then later on the second satellite gets further from the first

What have we learned from the GRACE satellite measurements?

Groundwater is increasing in some places and decreasing in others

Name each category of ecosystem service values under the millennium ecosystem assessment and give examples of each

Provisioning services: products - water

Regulating services: an ecosystem cleaning water for us

Cultural services: aesthetic beauty

Supporting services: A river providing clean water for a wetland environment further downstream

How can communities increase ecotourism?

Improve access to ecosystems, partnering the community to learn and value conservation, volunteer programs to clean up ecosystems to make them more attractive

What are some challenges for ecotourism in Kansas?

Lack of public land, lack of funding for the parks department, lack of government action

Explain how it can be dangerous to conserve based solely on economic value.

Could cause ecosystems to be compared to each other, could lead to human developments that are valued higher to replace ecosystems, easy to undervalue ecosystems

Channelized Stream

A stream that has been made straight by humans

Meandering stream

A stream that is not straight, often meanders more as time passes

Floodplain

Flat area above the bankfull where water will flood over

Bankfull

The total height a river can have before it floods

Point bar

An area of deposition that occurs on the inner side of expanding streams

River mouth

the end of a river. Usually v shaped

Name consequences of stream channelization

Increases the speed of the water, making more erosion happen downstream

How does rainfall influence cutbanks and deposition?

More rainfall, increase in erosion and makes cutbanks higher. Can also increase deposition.

Orange roots

Means they have been exposed for less than a year

Brown roots

have been exposed for more than a year

Why is it not considered ideal to use a straight retaining wall for erosion control?

Speeds up the water and will also throw the water at the other side at a fast speed.

How are rocks used for erosion control stabilized?

Placed on top of soil with nets and vegetation

Name and explain 4 steps homeowners can take to protect streams

Don’t mow to the edges of the stream bank, use less fertilizers, don’t dump lawn clippings, and use native plants in your landscaping

Sublimation

water goes directly from solid to a gas. Occurs in low pressure places like mountains

Deposition

water goes directly from a gas to a solid. Occurs in low pressure places like mountains

Fog drip

Droplets of water from fog adhere to the ground. Happens in low lying areas

Seepage

Occurs when ground water reaches the surface

River source

the source of a river

riffle

shallow area with fast, turbulent water running over rocks

Pool

deeper, slow zone in a river

Run

Area with little turbulence

Thalweg

where the most rapid water flows

Wetland

area with water that supports vegetation adapted to being saturated with water

Hydrophytes

a plant that grows in water

Riparian

the space along water where the plants growing are still affected by that water

What is the difference, between a river, stream, and creek?

No set difference. Generally river>stream>creek

Name some common differences in river organisms vs. stream organisms

River organisms will be larger and heavier than stream organisms

Name some watersheds which include JCCC

Mississipi watershed, Indian Creek Watershed, Lower Republican Watershed

What is the largest watershed in the U.S.?

Mississipi River Watershed

How do discharge hydrographs change with weather?

Spike during high rain events

Which organization posts real time hydrographs online?

USGS (United States Geological Survey)

Give an example of discharge influencing wildlife survival

If there is a lot of fast, frequent discharge, organisms that reproduce in the water may struggle to establish

Zone of erosion

On the outer curve of a river. Fast moving water cuts into the bank

Zone of deposition

On the inner curve of a river. Slow moving water deposits particles

Where is the thalweg in a meandering stream?

The outer side of each curve

Fen

ground water wetland that forms peat

Bog

rainwater wetland with peat and sphagnum moss

Swamp

forested wetland that sometimes floods

Marsh

A softstem, flooded wetland

Which is more acidic: bog or fen?

bog, because it is supplied by rainwater

Where are peatlands typically located?

North

Where are swamps normally located?

Costal

Where are marshes mostly located?

Inland

Explain the importance of transpiration in wetlands

Wetlands transpire a lot of water during the day, meaning surface water greatly decreases throughout the day and then collects again at night

Lentic

standing water

Lotic

running water

Lake

a lentic, open body of water in a depression not in contact with the ocean

Oxbow lake

A lake formed by a bend in a river being cuttoff by the river finding the path of least resistance. U shaped

Seiche

oscillation in the water level of a lake

Dimictic

Mixes twice, once in the spring and once in the fall

Monomictic

Mixes once in the fall

Polymictic

mixes frequently with wind and storms. Mostly in tropical areas

Artesian well

a well that brings groundwater to the surface without pumping because it is under pressure

Permeability

The amount of space between particles that water can flow through

Water table

the boundary between water-saturated ground and unsaturated ground.

FETCH

Looking at the direction of the wind and how long the stretch of lake it will affect. Helps determine if a lake is going to mix

Capillary Fringe

Water sticking to places where there is a lot of surface area

Fossil Water

Aquifers confined by multiple confining beds that can take centuries to millennia to refill. Non-renewable resource

Glacial lake

rounded form, carved by glaciers coming down

Graben lakes

formed by tectonic plates, long, skinny and very deep

Human made lakes

Jagged, fingerlike shape from damming, always a flat piece where the dam started

Littoral zone

Where light is getting to the shore

Penetrates all the way to the ground

High diversity

Pelagic zone

Open water, not near the shore

Photic zone

Very diverse

Profundal zone

Also known as Aphotic (without light)

Not very diverse, only supports tolerant organisms

Decaying material

Calculate retention time in lakes when given the volume and water loss

R = V/L

How does retention time influence the effects of pollutants?

Longer the retention time, the harder it is to recover from pollutants

In a dimictic lake, how do the temperatures separate in summer?

Cold water on the bottom, warm water on top

In a dimictic lake, how do the temperatures separate in winter?

Cold water on the top with ice, warm water on the bottom

When is a monomictic lake stratified? When is it mixed?

Stratified in the summer, mixed in all other seasons

What causes the difference in dimictic and monomictic lakes?

Whether or not it gets cold enough for an ice layer to form

At what temperature is water most dense? How is density different from most materials in solid form?

4* C. Different from most materials because ice in its solid form is less dense than its liquid form

What is rocking in an internal seiche?

The thermocline

Which lasts longer, an internal or external seiche?

internal seiche

hypolimnion

bottom layer, O2 poor

Epilimnion

Upper layer, O2 rich

Thermocline

Where the temperature shifts, O2 decreased

What causes Langmuir circulation cells?

wind pushes against water, causing each side to rotate in a different direction and form a gutter of bubbles and debris