FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM

Group 1 Reporters: Ababol, Kessia R.

Francisco, Ephesiany G. Maasin, Ivy

Antipolo, Jia D. Members:

Jamandra, Jaely Somondong, Eloisa Gale A.

Morales. Chlaire Bontilao, Princess Sarah

Rosalina, Cherepril Lasaca, Theresa

Cobrilla, Edcel Grace C. Tagudin, Ruzelle C.

Basibas,Crischi Coronel, Lyka

Objectives

1. To understand the hydrological cycle and freshwater availability

2. To examine the different types of freshwater ecosystems

3. To explore the different biodiversity found in different freshwater ecosystems

4. To be aware on the current threats to freshwater ecosystems

The Hydrological Cycle and Freshwater Availability

- All freshwater ecosystems are regulated by the hydrological cycle.

Hydrological cycle - continuous process of water movement between states that is ultimately
driven by solar energy.

1. Evaporation - move liquid water to atmospheric gas

Evapotranspiration - water produced from vegetative respiration

2. Condensation - process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water.
Condensation is crucial to the water cycle because it is responsible for the formation of clouds.

3. Precipitation - moves atmospheric water into liquid form and into streams, rivers, and lakes.
Downstream flows then moves the liquid water into storage areas including groundwater, lakes
or ocean.
Retention time - the length of time water remains in a particular place varies based on several
factors ( size & shape of lakes, connectivity to the groundwater, configuration of streams and
rivers)

Groundwater - underground areas that are fully water-saturated

Ecosystem Drivers of Freshwater diversity

1. Physical Habitat - small streams or spring ecosystems, the percent of water in contact
with the substrate is much higher than in large rivers or lakes. In lakes, the most
important physical habitats are likely to be in the shallow and near-shore environments
(Wetzel 2001).

2. Energy Sources - refers to primary production or the basal level in the food web.
Sunlight is the main factor regulating photosynthesis by green algae and some species
of bacteria.

3. Water Quality - refers primarily to the chemical attributes of water. Dissolved oxygen
(DO), pH, dissolved nutrients, dissolved metals, and suspended solids are some of
the major components of water quality.

4. Biotic Interactions - Predation, competition, and hybridization are the major forms of
biotic interactions.

Predation rates can affect organismal behavior (i.e., predator avoidance) as well as
population growth rates. Competition may affect population growth rates through
density-dependent processes. Hybridization - is a population-level phenomenon,
resulting from breeding of individuals among gene pools. Hybridization may result in
increased fitness (defined in terms of survival and reproduction), and this process is
referred to as heterosis.
 5. Hydrology - Stream flow is thought to have five major defining features:
magnitude, frequency, duration, predictability, and rate of change. These features
have critical implications for freshwater ecosystems.

Freshwater Ecosystem

- subset of Earth's aquatic ecosystems.

-includes lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, springs, bogs, and wetlands.

Freshwater habitat are classified by these factors:

1. Temperature

2. Light penetration

3. Nutrients

4. Vegetation

Freshwater Ecosystems can be divided

Lentic: slow moving water, including pools, ponds, and lakes.

Lotic: faster moving water, for example streams and rivers.

Wetlands: areas where the soil is saturated or inundated for at least part of the time.

Limnology - part of hyrobiology and its branch freshwater biology is the study of freshwater
ecosystems.

Limnologists - Scientists that study freshwater bodies of water like ponds, lakes, and rivers.

Facts about the Freshwater Biome

Caspian Sea - The largest lake in the world

Nile River - The longest river in the world

Pantanal in South America - The largest wetland in the world.

The types of aquatic ecosystems are mainly determined by the water’s salinity.

Salinity - the amount of dissolved salts contained in the water.

Freshwater usually has a salinity <0.5 ppt

Characteristics of Aquatic Ecosystems

Factors that determine where organisms live in the water include:

 Temperature
 Sunlight
 Oxygen
 Nutrients

Characteristics of Aquatic Organisms

Aquatic organisms are grouped by their location and their adaptation.

There are 3 main groups of organisms in the freshwater ecosystem

Plankton - organisms that float near the surface of the water

Plankton - microscopic organisms that float near the surface of the water.

Two main types of plankton are:

Phytoplankton – microscopic plants that produce most of the food for an aquatic ecosystem

Zooplankton – microscopic animals, some are large enough be seen with the eye. Many are
larvae of aquatic mollusks or crustaceans.

Nekton – free-swimming organisms. Ex. Fish, turtles, etc.

Benthos – bottom-dwelling organisms. Mussels, worms, many decomposers. Many benthic

organisms live attached to the hard surfaces of the bottom.

Types of Freshwater Ecosystem

Lentic- slow moving water, including pools, ponds, and lakes.

Lake ecosystems can be divided into zones:

Littoral zone - is the shallow zone near the shore. This is where rooted wetland plants occur.
Area closest to the shore where aquatic plants grow.

 Plants, such as cattails and reeds are rooted in the mud underwater, and their upper leaves
and stems emerge above the water.
 Plants with floating leaves, like pond lillies,are also rooted here.
 Many fish live here as there is good hiding and food in the plants.

Pelagic/Limnetic zone - offshore areas, open water that has plankton and nekton.

 Further out from the shore in the open waters there are other plants, algae, and some
bacteria that make food through photosynthesis.
  Many fish swim freely in this zone. Algae, phytoplankton, and zooplankton live (float
freely) here as well.
 Most photosynthesis occurs in this part of the lake. Near the surface there is plenty of
light penetrating down through the waters. As waters deepen it becomes darker.

Euphotic/ Photic zones – area where light can penetrate . Opposite of aphotic zone.

Aphotic zone - profundal zone, underwater area where light that does not reach.

 located below the range of light penetration so little to no light.

 Temperatures typically colder (because sunlight does not penetrate)
 Fish adapted to live in darker, cooler water live here.

Riparian zone - inland from littoral zone

Benthic zone - This is the floor, or bottom, of the lake.

 Sometimes little to no light, depending on the depth.

 Bacteria live here to decompose dead plants and animals that drift down from the land
and water above.
 Fish adapted to live in darker, cooler water also live here.

The temperature of lakes can change over time. In tropical areas the lakes will stay the same
relative temperature with the water getting colder the deeper you go. In northern lakes, the
change in temperature due to the seasons will move the water in the lake as shown below.
Water cycling in lakes

Adaptations of Lake and Pond Organisms

Organisms have many different adaptations to help them better survive in their environment.
Below are some adaptations that lake or pond organisms may have:

Water beetles – use hairs under their bodies to trap surface air so that they can breathe during
their dives food.

Catfish – have whiskers to help sense food as they swim over dark lake bottoms.

Amphibians – burrow into the littoral muds to avoid freezing temperatures when the lakes may
freeze or partially freeze in winter.

Lake animals - Animals include plankton, crayfish, snails, worms, frogs, turtles, insects, and
fishes.

Lake plants - Plants include water lilies, duckweed, cattail, bulrush, stonewort, and bladderwort.

Lake Classification

Mesotrophic lake is intermediate in most characteristics between the oligotrophic and eutrophic
stages.

 Production of plankton is intermediate so we have some organic sediment accumulating

and some loss of oxygen in the lower waters.
 The oxygen may not be entirely depleted except near the bottom (the relative depth of the
lake has a bearing on this).
 The water is moderately clear. Mesotrophic lakes usually have some scattered weed beds
and within these beds the weeds are usually sparse.

Oligotrophic lakes contain very low concentrations of those nutrients required for plant growth
and thus the overall productivity of these lakes is low.

 Phytoplankton, the zooplankton, the attached algae, the macrophytes (aquatic weeds), the
bacteria, and the fish are all present as small populations.
 Many species of organisms, but not very many of each species or type. Little production
of organic matter, so very little accumulation of organic sediment on the bottom, and
therefore small populations of bacteria.
 Lots of oxygen from surface to bottom.
 The bottom are most often sandy and rocky and usually their watersheds are the same,
resulting in few nutrients entering the lake.
 Nice clean water, no weed problems and poor fishing.
  They are seldom in populated or agricultural areas -- too many people and heavy use
tends to eventually shift them out of the oligotrophic category and more towards
eutrophic.

Ponds - which typically are small lakes that intergrade with wetlands, and water reservoirs.
Small bodies of freshwater with shallow and still water, marsh, and aquatic plants.

Succession - Over long periods of time, lakes, or bays within them, may gradually become
enriched by nutrients and slowly fill in with organic sediments.

Eutrophication - excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due
to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from
lack of oxygen.

Aquatic life - includes algae, snails, fish, beetles, water bugs, frogs, turtles, otters and muskrats.
Top predators may include large fish, herons, or alligators.

Vernal pools - ponds that dry up completely each year.

Some ponds are produced by animal activity, including alligator holes and beaver ponds, and
these add important diversity to landscapes.

Examples of Freshwater Ecosystems in the Philippines

Las Piñas–Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) – area is covered
with mangroves, ponds and lagoons, mudflats, salt marshes, and mixed beach forests. The entire
LPPCHEA covers an area of 175 hectares (430 acres); about 114 hectares (280 acres) of which
are by tidal mudflats, and 30 hectares (74 acres) of which are by its mangrove forest.

Taal Lake - Bombón Lake, is a freshwater lake in the province of Batangas. Country's third-
largest lake.

Lotic - includes streams and rivers which means that they have flowing waters, unlike the still
waters of ponds and lakes. This biome can vary in size dramatically from small trickling streams
to mile wide rivers that travel for thousands of miles.

River ecosystem

 Many rivers originate from snow melt in mountains.

 At its headwaters, a river is usually cold and full of oxygen and runs swiftly through a
shallow riverbed.
 As a river flows down a mountain in may broaden, become warmer, wider, slower, and
decrease in oxygen.
 A river changes with the land and climate in runs through.
Streams and Rivers

Key factors influencing the ecology of streams and rivers include:

Flow - the amount of water and the strength at which it flows will impact the types of plants and
animals that can live in a river.

Light - light has an impact because it provides energy to plants through photosynthesis. The
amount of light due to seasons or other factors will impact the river's ecosystem.

Temperature - The climate of the land the river is flowing through will have an impact on the
local plant and animal life.

Chemistry - this has to do with the type of geology that the river is flowing through. It impacts
what type of soil, rocks, and nutrients are in the river.

Life in River

Near the churning headwaters:

• Mosses anchor to rocks by using root-like structures called rhizoids, trout and minnows

are adapted to the cold, oxygen-rich headwaters too (powerful swimmers and

streamlined bodies provide little resistance to strong currents).

Farther downstream:

 Plankton can float in warmer, calmer waters

 Plants (like crowfoot) set roots down in the rich sediment bottoms
 Fish (like catfish and carp) live in calmer waters.

Human Impact on Rivers

 Industries use river water in manufacturing processes and as receptacles for waste
 For many years people have used rivers for dumping sewage and garbage.
 Runoff from land puts pesticides and other poisons into rivers and coats riverbeds with
toxic sediments
 Dams also alter the ecosystems in and around the river.

River animals - Animals that live in or around the river include insects, snails, crabs, fishes such
as salmon and catfish, salamanders, snakes, crocodiles, otters, and beavers.

River plants - Plants that grow around rivers vary greatly depending on the location of the river
in the world. The plants typically live along the edge of the river where the water is moving
slower. Plants include tapegrass, water stargrass, willow trees, and river birch.
Examples of Freshwater Ecosystems in the Philippines

Hinatuan Enchanted River - in Mindanao, Philippines, is a flawless saltwater river that flows
into the Pacific Ocean. It is around 80-feet deep, and just barely long enough to be considered a
river.

Puerto Prinsesa Underground River/ Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park -

park features a spectacular limestone karst landscape with an underground river. One of the
river's distinguishing features is that it emerges directly into the sea, and its lower portion is
subject to tidal influences. The area also represents a significant habitat for biodiversity
conservation. The site contains a full 'mountain-to-sea' ecosystem and has some of the most
important forests in Asia.

Freshwater wetlands – areas of land covered with freshwater for at least part of the year.

 Are identified based on their water, soil types (hydric soils), and vegetation.
 Water typically floods the areas consecutively for at least 7.5% of the growing season.

Hydric soil (wetland soils) remains wet long enough to create oxygen –poor conditions.

 Plants in wetlands are hydrophilic – adapted to growing in wet soil with little oxygen.
 Wetlands are important environmental functions that are needed to help protect our land
and water sources.

Wetlands

- dominated by vascular plants that have adapted to saturated soil. Most productive natural
ecosystems in the world because of the proximity of water and soil. Hence they support large
numbers of plant and animal species.

- a combination of land and water. It can be thought of as land that is saturated with water. The
land may be mostly underwater for part of the year or just flooded at certain times. The amount
of rainfall varies widely depending on where a wetland is located. It could be as little as seven
inches per year to over a hundred inches per year.

There are four main types of wetlands:

1. Swamp - wetlands that grow trees and have seasonal flooding.

2. Marsh - wetlands without trees.

3. Fen - Fens are minerotrophic peatlands, usually fed by mineral-rich surface water
or groundwater. They are characterized by their distinct water chemistry, which is pH
neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients.
They are usually dominated by grasses and sedges, and typically have brown mosses. Fens
frequently have a high diversity of other plant species including carnivorous plants such
as Pinguicula.

4. Bogs – wetland that accumulates peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses, and in
a majority of cases, sphagnummoss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for
bogs include mire, quagmire, and muskeg; alkaline mires are called fens. They are frequently
covered in ericaceous shrubs rooted in the sphagnum moss and peat. The gradual accumulation
of decayed plant material in a bog functions as a carbon sink.

Tidal swamp - sometimes called mangrove swamps because the mangroves can grow in the mix
of freshwater and saltwater.

Key characteristics of a wetland

- It supports aquatic plants

- An important role in nature.

- Help to prevent flooding.

- Help to purify and filter water.

- Home to many species of plants and animals.

Wetland animals - Wetlands have a huge diversity in animal life. Amphibians, birds, and
reptiles all do well in the wetlands. The largest predators are alligators and crocodiles. Other
animals include beavers, minks, raccoons, and deer.

Wetland plants - Wetland plants may grow entirely underwater or float on top of the water.
Other plants grow mostly out of the water, like large trees. Plants include milkweed, water lilies,
duckweed, cattail, cypress trees, and mangroves.

Important Environmental Functions

They improve water quality of lakes, reservoirs, and rivers

 Wetlands act as filters or sponges – they absorb and remove pollutants from the water
that flows through them.
 They control flooding by absorbing extra water when rivers overflow. (protecting farms,
urban, and residential areas from damage)
 Provide feeding and spawning grounds for fish
 Provide home for native and migratory wildlife, including blue herons
 Wetland vegetation traps carbon (that would otherwise be released as carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere)
 Buffering shorelines against erosion
Examples of Freshwater Ecosystems in the Philippines

Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary – the largest wetland in the country. A vast wetland of
swamp forests, watercourses and lakes covering an area of nearly 15,000 hectares, roughly the
size of Metro Manila! It is accessible via a 1.5 hour motorized boat ride from the township of
Bunawan, Agusan del Sur. The Agusan Manobo are the indigenous people that live in and
around the protected area. Many of them live in floating houses that rise with the changing water
levels.

Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary - is situated in the Olango archipelago which consists of
seven islands. The islands are located in the Central Visayas area which is a part of Cebu
province in the Philippines. The wildlife sanctuary which covers an area of about 5800 hectares
is a major tourist attraction and a natural habitat for some plant and animal species. One of the
sanctuary’s notable animal species includes the migratory birds of Japan, Siberia, and Northern
China. The sanctuary houses 97 bird species 49 of which are resident birds while the rest are
migratory birds. The wildlife sanctuary was listed as a Ramsar wetland of international
importance on July 1st, 1994.

Laws Protecting the Freshwater Ecosystem in the Philippines

1. Presidential Decree No. 1067 - THE WATER CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

- A DECREE INSTITUTING A WATER CODE, THEREBY REVISING AND

CONSOLIDATING THE LAWS GOVERNING THE OWNERSHIP, APPROPRIATION,
UTILIZATION, EXPLOITATION, DEVELOPMENT, CONSERVATION AND
PROTECTION OF WATER RESOURCES.

- Article 51 of the Water Code of the Philippines states that “The banks of rivers and
streams and the shores of the seas and lakes throughout their entire length and within a zone of
three (3) meters in urban area, twenty meters in agricultural areas and forty (40) meters in forest
areas, along their margins, are subject to the easement of public use in the interest of recreation,
navigation, flotage, fishing and salvage. No person shall be allowed to stay in this zone longer
than what is necessary for recreation, navigation, flotage, fishing or salvage or to build structures
of any kind.

2. Republic Act No. 8550 - “The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998.”

-AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT, MANAGEMENT AND

CONSERVATION OF THE FISHERIES AND AQUATIC RESOURCES, INTEGRATING
ALL LAWS PERTINENT THERETO, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

- to limit access to the fishery and aquatic resources of the Philippines for the exclusive
use and enjoyment of Filipino citizen; to ensure the rational and sustainable development,
management and conservation of the fishery and aquatic resources in Philippine waters including
the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and in the adjacent high seas, consistent with the primordial
objective of maintaining a sound ecological balance, protecting and enhancing the quality of the
environment.

3. REPUBLIC ACT No. 11038 - "Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act
of 2018" .

-An Act Declaring Protected Areas and Providing for Their Management, Amending for
This Purpose Republic Act No. 7586, Otherwise Known as the "National Integrated Protected
Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992" and for Other Purposes.

- encompass ecologically rich and unique areas and biologically important public lands
that are habitats of rare and threatened species of plants and animals, biogeographic zones and
related ecosystems, whether terrestrial, wetland or marine, all of which shall be designated as
'protected areas'.