Freshwater Ecology Test 2

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What is a lotic system?

One in which water flows from one source to another freely

What is the difference between a Stream, river, creek, etc.?

Trick question there is none scientifically

The diversity in freshwater is ______ than other freshwater bodies?

(Higher or Lower?)

Lower

Why are lotic systems important?

They serve as corridors for the movement of chemicals, fauna, and materials

A streams area of effect is called…?

its watershed or riverbasin

A watershed has several scales, what are some examples of this?

Water in montreat is in the flat creek watershed, but also in the French Broad Watershed, but also in the Mississippi Watershed

What is an ephemeral stream?

a stream with low discharge; also known as a intermittent stream; A stream that isn’t present year round

What is a lotic system?

One in which water flows from one source to another freely

What is the difference between a Stream, river, creek, etc.?

Trick question there is none scientifically

The diversity in freshwater is ______ than other freshwater bodies?

(Higher or Lower?)

Lower

Why are lotic systems important?

They serve as corridors for the movement of chemicals, fauna, and materials

A streams area of effect is called…?

its watershed or riverbasin

A watershed has several scales, what are some examples of this?

Water in montreat is in the flat creek watershed, but also in the French Broad Watershed, but also in the Mississippi Watershed

What is an ephemeral stream?

a stream with low discharge; also known as a intermittent stream; A stream that isn’t present year round

Other than stream order (which is easy to ID but unhelpful) how can you classify streams?

By surrounding geography

eg. Mountain streams, forrest streams, uplands streams, plains streams

What differences would you expect between a forest stream and a plains stream based on geography?

A forest stream is likely to flow more deep, narrow and straight, to have more allochthonous inputs, to have more disturbance, and to be cooler/have more shade

A plains stream is likely to be flow more flat, winding, and shallow, to have less allochthonous inputs, to have more algae, to have less disturbance, to have higher biomass productivity, and to be hotter/have less shade

What is base flow?

The minimum water through a system without rain or runoff (usually goes up but not down)

The technical term for a systems dry weather flow

What factors influence base flow?

Soil porosity, vegetation, geography, etc.

What is a floodstage?

When a river’s flow is abnormally above the base flow

Describe or draw a riffle, run, and a pool

A riffle is a shallow area where water hits rocks on the bottom of a stream and bounces up to the surface creating movement on the surface of the water

A run is a slightly deeper area where water flows freely and the surface is not disturbed but sediment is not deposited,

a Pool is a deep area where sediment from upstream drops through the water column and collects at the botto

What is a reach of a river?

a large study section of a river with some combination of riffles runs and pools

What is a thalweg?

the path of most direct flow and movement, generally the middle of the stream

How is a meander created?

Silt drop off from the thalweg will build up the bank and undercut the other bank so much it creates a large curve.

What is an oxbow lake and how is it formed?

An oxbow is a meander that gets cut off as the thalweg pushes back straight under the bank.

What is sediment called when it gets into the water column?

suspended load, total suspended solids, turbidity

What is it called when rocks/heavy objects get pushed along the bottom of a stream what is it called?

Bed load

What are some human impacts on rivers?

Floodplain drain, channelization, Damming (leads to nutrient starving below a dam)

What to hypothesies begin with?

questions

What do questions begin with?

Observations

What can be used to publish observations that do not have an endpoint of collecting more data/doing more research?

A Natural History Note

eg. Anoles eat fruit in florida or

eg. red footed tortoises eating a horse corpse in columbia

In science questions should mostly be _____?

Generalizable

eg. findings on the model organism should be applicable to more than one species

What is a null hypothesis?

If x then y is unchanged instead of if x then y changes

Correlation does not equal ____?

causation

What are some methods of addressing a hypothesis?

Manipulative experiments, field observations, surveys, and polls (surveys and polls are more prevalent in soft sciences)

in a manipulative experiment what are you looking for?

the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable

What are some problems with manipulative experiments?

the real world is different and one variables effect may drastically change over time

it is hard to get a high number of repetition

What are some Pros of manipulative experiments?

They can ensure causation

What are some pros and cons of field observations?

Pros= they are more accurate to real life

cons=it is very difficult to ensure causation, because so many variables are being handled at once

What is a lake?

A lentic body of water with deep open water and a non vegetated area, but no oceanic content

Why are lakes important?

they are sources of drinking/irrigation water, they provide a stable habitat, and they provide entertainment and recreation

What things can form lakes?

glacial movement, meteors/volcanos, dams/beavers, tectonic action, oxbow formation, and dissolution lakes (think karst systems)

What are the three zones of a lake called?

• The littoral zone

• the limnetic/pelagic zone

• the profundal/aphotic zone

What is the limnetic zone?

An open, non-vegetated area with light penetration

What is the littoral zone?

The vegetated edge of the lake with light penetration

What is the profundal zone?

The part of deep lakes in which there is no light penetration

What is the bottom of a lake referred to as?

the benthos

What are some pros and cons of field observations?

Pros= they are more accurate to real life

cons=it is very difficult to ensure causation, because so many variables are being handled at once

What is a lake?

A lentic body of water with deep open water and a non vegetated area, but no oceanic content

Why are lakes important?

they are sources of drinking/irrigation water, they provide a stable habitat, and they provide entertainment and recreation

What things can form lakes?

glacial movement, meteors/volcanos, dams/beavers, tectonic action, oxbow formation, and dissolution lakes (think karst systems)

What are the three zones of a lake called?

• The littoral zone

• the limnetic/pelagic zone

• the profundal/aphotic zone

What is the limnetic zone?

An open, non-vegetated area with light penetration

When a lake turns, it creates a period of what conditions?

High oxygen and high nutrients

What is primary literature review?

the act of researching peer reviewed literature

Why are aquatic organisms also vital for terrestrial food webs?

they transfer nutrients via the process of metamorphosis (think frogs and mayflies)

They also transfer nutrients from lower trophic levels (algae/leaf litter) to higher trophic levels (predators)

Why are lakes important?

they are sources of drinking/irrigation water, they provide a stable habitat, and they provide entertainment and recreation

What things can form lakes?

glacial movement, meteors/volcanos, dams/beavers, tectonic action, oxbow formation, and dissolution lakes (think karst systems)

What are the three zones of a lake called?

• The littoral zone

• the limnetic/pelagic zone

• the profundal/aphotic zone

What are the three organismal domains?

Eukarya, Archaea, and Bacteria

(eukarya is the only macroscopic group)

What group of organisms are the most important primary producers in freshwater ecosystems?

Algae

Why are invertebrates so good for ecological studies?

they are abundant and diverse in freshwater systems

What is the most abundant group of vertebrates in Freshwater ecosystems?

Osteichthyes

Unlike many other plants, freshwater plants are more constrained by _____ than _____?

Light than water

What is the limnetic zone?

An open, non-vegetated area with light penetration

When a lake turns, it creates a period of what conditions?

High oxygen and high nutrients

What is an autotroph?

An animal that creates its own food via chemoautotrophy or photoautotrophy

Why are aquatic organisms also vital for terrestrial food webs?

they transfer nutrients via the process of metamorphosis (think frogs and mayflies)

They also transfer nutrients from lower trophic levels (algae/leaf litter) to higher trophic levels (predators)

What is a facultative heterotroph?

an organism that can switch between using autotrophy and heterotrophy to get energy/nutrients

Why is functional classification sometimes more useful than taxonomic groupings?

Closely related species can be very different in function

What ways can you organize aquatic organisms?

• Taxonomically- via relation/group/tree of life

• Functionally- via analyzing what they do (eg. algae scraper, predator, etc.)

• Habitat

• Interactions (predator, Parasite, competitor)

What is a species defined as?

Biologically: an animal that can reproduce and have fertile offspring (There are some exceptions such as fertile crossbreeds or unsexually reproducing organisms)

Genetically: a group of animals that are genetically similar (this can be a subjective definition)

What are some functional classifications by feeding group?

• Filterers

• collectors

• shredders

• scrapers

• predators

Where does an endosymbiotic aquatic organism live?

An animal that does not make its own food such as a carnivore, herbivore, or detritivore

Where does an epilithic aquatic organism live ?

an organism that lives on rocks

Where does an epigean aquatic organism live?

above ground

where does an epipelic aquatic organism live?

on mud

where does an epiphytic aquatic organism live?

on plants

Where does an epipsammic aquatic organism live?

on sand

where does a hygropetric aquatic organism live?

in water on vertical rock surfaces

Where does a hyporheic aquatic organism live?

in groundwater influenced by surface water

Where does a lentic aquatic organism live?

in still water

Where does a littoral aquatic organism live?

on lake shores, in shallow benthic zone of lakes

Where does a lotic aquatic organism live?

in flowing water

Where does a neustonic aquatic organism live?

on the surface of the water

Where does a pelagic aquatic organism live?

In open water

Where does a periphytic aquatic organism live?

on the benthos in a complex mixture including algae

where does a profundal aquatic organism live?

deep in a lake

Where does a symbiotic aquatic organism live?

very near or within an organism

where does a stygophilic aquatic organism live?

in groundwater, actively, but for only part of its life cycle

Where does a stygobitic aquatic organism live?

in groundwater

You can classify aquatic orgs by habitat, true or false?

true

Where does a benthic aquatic organism live?

one that lives on the bottom of a body of water

Where does an emergent aquatic organism live?

one that emerges from the water

What is the goal of scientific research?

to establish causality (this is only possible with quantitative technique)

What are the four requirements for quantitative research?

• Controls

• Isolated variables

• Independent replicates

• randomization

What is the purpose of a control in an experiment?

It lets you know whats the normal baseline

what is the purpose of an isolated variable in an experiment?

it lets you know you are testing what you think you’re testing (if you cannot completely isolate variables you have to justify)

What is the purpose of independent replicates in a scientific experiment?

lets you know that the results are consistent and reliable.

What is a pseudoreplicate?

A replicate that isn’t really a replicate, just a subdivision of a whole

What is spatial autocorrelation?

A pseudoreplicate in which things are similar because of their proximity (can be tested for using a mantel test)