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LSM3254 Ecology of Aquatic Environments (2011/2012 Semester 1) TEACHING STAFF

LSM3254 Ecology of Aquatic Environments

2011/2012 Semester 1
Ms Xu Weiting Dr Darren Yeo Dept of Biological Sciences Lecturer Topic: Freshwater environments Dept of Biological Sciences Teaching Assistant Dr Peter Todd Dept of Biological Sciences Lecturer , Course Coordinator Topic: Marine environments

Aims & Objectives

OVERALL AIM: To develop an appreciation and understanding of aquatic habitats and organisms, their physical and biological properties and their y associated ecosystems SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES By the end of this course, you should be able to: Recognise the scopes of freshwater biology and marine biology Recognise the interconnectedness of freshwater and marine habitats Describe, compare and contrast various aquatic h bit t D ib d t t i ti habitats Identify and discuss the biodiversity and ecology of various aquatic habitats

Aims & Objectives

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES (continued) Discuss relevant ecological mechanisms (e g predation) and processes (e.g., (e.g., energy flow) within the context of aquatic systems Discuss key human-associated threats/impacts to various aquatic habitats Discuss key issues in conservation and management of aquatic habitats Critically and constructively evaluate scientific papers; and better communicate ideas and information through writing Understand the importance of data collection and analysis Explore aquatic issues especially relevant to Singapore

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WK

MONTH

LSM3254 Ecology of Aquatic Environments

1 2 Aug 8

LECTURES MONDAYS No class 9* 16

PRACTICALS/TUTORIALS TUESDAYS Public Holiday

15 Introduction to freshwater and

marine environments (DY/PT) 22 Freshwater ecological characteristics (DY)

26 hours of lectures 20 hours of practical/tutorials:

Includes 2 field trips, 2 lab sessions, and 1 field trip/lab session Attendance is compulsory p y For field trips, meeting point will be either LS Lab 7 (for briefing) or Science Drive 4 (next to University Hall) --- to be announced

3 4 5 6 Sep

23* Aquatic biodiversity

(DY/PT)

29 F h Freshwater h bi habitats (DY) 5 Freshwater biodiversity (DY) 12 Freshwater populations and

communities (DY)

30

Public H lid P bli Holiday

6* Biomonitoring (DY) 13

Recess week: Sat 17 Sep Sun 25 Sep 2011 (1 week) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Oct/Nov Nov Oct 26 Freshwater ecosystems (DY) 3 E-learning week. Fundamentals of
oceanography (PT) 27* Biomonitoring (DY)

4 11* Plankton sampling (PT) 18 25* Underwater World (PT) 1 8* Conservation and management of aquatic environments (DY/PT), Review (DY/PT).

10 Plankton and productivity (PT) 17 The intertidal (PT) 24 The open ocean (PT) 31 Tropical marine ecosystems (PT) 7 Public Holiday

READING PERIOD : Sat 12 Nov to Fri 18 Nov 2011 (1 week) EXAMINATION :Thu, 24 November 2011, 9:00 A.M. VACATION : Sun 04 Dec 2011 to Sun 08 Jan 2012 (5 weeks)

LSM3254 Ecology of Aquatic Environments Outline of topics

DY/PT Introduction to freshwater and marine environments Conservation and Management of freshwater and marine environments g DY (freshwater) Ecological characteristics of freshwater Habitats Biodiversity Populations and communities Ecosystems PT (marine) Fundamentals of oceanography F d l f h Plankton and productivity The intertidal The open ocean Tropical marine ecosystems

REFERENCES
Main Dodson S (2004) Introduction to Limnology. McGraw-Hill C t P & Huber M (2007) M i Bi l Castro H b Marine Biology, 6 Ed M G Ed. McGraw Hill Supplementary See IVLE Most general biology or ecology texts Local aquatic biodiversity Tan HTW et al. 2010. The Natural Heritage of Singapore, 3rd Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall Various authors: Science Centre Guidebook series Various authors: Private Lives series

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LSM3254 Ecology of Aquatic Environments Practicals

Aims:
Hands-on introduction to aquatic biodiversity, habitats, methods, and techniques Practice and improve your scientific reasoning, writing and presentation skills

LSM3254 Ecology of Aquatic Environments

Final written examination: Continual assessment (CA): ( ) 40% (open book) 60% %

Practical 1: Aquatic Biodiversity (Freshwater and Marine) Lab session (DY/PT) Practical 2: Freshwater Biomonitoring I Field trip to Central Catchment Nature Reserve (DY) Practical 3: Freshwater Biomonitoring II Lab session: Data analysis/Report writing (DY) Practical 4: Marine Plankton sampling Field trip to coastal sites followed by lab p g p y session (PT) Practical 5: Underwater World Field trip to Underwater World, Sentosa (PT) Practical 6: Hijacked and turned into catch-up and review lecture!

Breakdown of overall coverage between two main components:

Freshwater [DY]: Marine [PT]: TOTAL 50% 50% 100%

LSM3254 Ecology of Aquatic Environments

Final written examination (40%):
Structured questions, 20% (DY 10%, PT 10%) Essay questions, 20% (DY 10%, PT 10%)

Dr Todds project: Sell your shore! (20%)

Learning outcomes. By the end of this assignment you should be able to: Create an information-rich brochure using appropriate software Identify a variety of marine organisms to species (or at least genus) level Discover and describe some interesting facts about them Understand some of the ecology geography and history of your chosen shore ecology, Aim: Explore Singapores shorelines and discover something of their natural history

Continual assessment (60%): quizzes, report, poster work

Practical 2-3 written report MCQ quiz 1 (freshwater) Brochure project MCQ quiz 2 ( Qq (marine) ) 20% 10% 20% 10%

Instructions Pick a stretch of shoreline (mainland Singapore or on any of its islands) Sell its most interesting aspects to any audience you wish, e.g. regular tourists, ecotourists, visiting scientists, etc. Include local history, geology, geography, etc. but concentrate marine biological aspects especially fauna and flora Use only your own text and images no copying from internet! No word limit Hand in an A4 printout for marking Marking based on: clarity, originality, accuracy, design, interest, effectiveness. Submission deadline: Monday 10th October (in lecture or outside my office by 6pm)

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Objectives
LSM3254 Ecology of Aquatic Environments
To learn how freshwater and marine environments are linked To learn how seawater and freshwater differ To learn how aquatic and terrestrial environments differ Scope The hydrologic cycle River meets the sea: freshwater-marine interface
- Physical - Biological

Introduction to freshwater and marine environments

Darren Yeo and Peter Todd Dept of Biological Sciences

Aquatic vs terrestrial
References: Dodson, S. 2005.Introduction to Limnology. McGraw-Hill Chapter 11 Molles, M. C. Jr., 2005. Ecology: concepts and applications, 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill

Topics for today:

Where does water come from?

Cycling of water across the biosphere

Scope The hydrologic cycle (DY) River meets the sea (physical) (PT) River meets the sea (biological) (DY) Aquatic vs terrestrial (PT/DY)

Over 71% of the earths surface is covered by water:

Oceans: 97% Polar ice caps; glaciers: 2% Lakes; rivers; streams; ground water: <1%

Turnover time.
Atmosphere Rivers Oceans 9 days 12-20 days 3,100 years

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Hydrologic cycle
Distribution of water is dynamic, not static Water cycles between reservoirs across the biospherethe hydrologic cycle Reservoirs: oceans, polar ice caps, glaciers, surface freshwaters, ground water, atmosphere

Hydrologic cycle
Powered by heat from the sun ( (solar energy) gy) Movement between reservoirs by various processes:
Evaporation, transpiration Condensation, precipitation Biological consumption Surface flow, surface runoff Percolation, groundwater flow

Hydrologic cycle
Reservoirs of freshwater include: Atmosphere
Water vapour, clouds Warm air holds more water vapour than cold air Humid tropics

Ground water
Liquid water stored/flowing through permeable soil/rock Rechargeable - percolation from surface Non-rechargeable - fossil water Reaches surface through springs or seepage lakes Important water source for human use

Surface water
Lakes, streams, reservoirs, wetlands, estuaries, glaciers

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River meets the sea

SALINITY
Total amount of salt dissolved in seawater. Measured in parts per thousand (simply: the number of grams of salt left ft l ft after evaporating 1000gm seawater). ti 1000 t ) If 35 gm of salt left after evaporating 1000gm of seawater, salinity is 35 ppt. (0/00)
Sometimes, the unit of measurement used is PSU (Practical Salinity Unit).

Main difference between seawater and freshwater?

Why is the sea salty?

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Composition of seawater of 35 0/00 salinity

ION Chloride (Cl-) Sodium (N +) S di (Na Sulphate (SO4-2) Magnesium (Mg+2) Calcium (Ca+2) Potassium (K+) Bicarbonate (HCO-3) Bromide (Br-) Borate (H2BO-3) Strongtium (Sr+2) Fluoride (F-) Others CONCENTRATION 19.345 10.752 10 752 2.701 1.295 0.416 0.390 0.145 0.066 0 066 0.027 0.013 0.001 <0.001 PERCENTAGE OF SALINITY 55.03 30.59 30 59 7.68 3.68 1.18 1.11 0.41 0.19 0 19 0.08 0.04 0.003 <0.001

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Mixing of freshwater and seawater at river mouths

Salt wedge estuaries occur when river output greatly exceeds marine input and tidal effects have a minor importance. As tidal forcing increases, partially mixed and vertically homogenous estuaries occur resulting i a well t i lti in ll mixed water column and the disappearance of the vertical salinity gradient.

Freshwater

Seawater

Freshwater

Seawater

Freshwater Seawater

Schematic of a typical estuary

What is an estuary?
An estuary is formed where rivers meet the sea.

An estuary is a semi-enclosed river mouth or bay where salty seawater is diluted by freshwater from rivers and creeks.

An estuary is made up of tidal marshes, tidal flats, and open water channels.

An estuary is flooded by the tides.

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Lower estuary

open water channel

tidal marsh tidal flat

Biological link between freshwater and marine environments

Diadromous species spend part of their lives in freshwater and part in saltwater environments Anadromous species spend most of their adult lives in the sea, but migrate into freshwaters to spawn Catadromous species spend most of their adult lives in freshwaters, but migrate to sea to spawn Amphidromous species spend adult lives and spawn in freshwaters; g p juveniles larvae drift to sea and migrate back upstream as j Often associated with fishes, but other organisms can also be diadromous Involves mass movement of individuals therefore a form of migration

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Generalised migration circuit for diadromous species

Adult population

Pacific Salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and Atlantic Salmon (Salmo spp.)

Anadromous species Most of adult life spent at sea Mature adults migrate up rivers to freshwater streams and lakes to spawn Young migrate downstream back to sea

Photo Credit:US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Spawning site Passive drift as plankton

Nursing area

Atlantic eels (Anguilla spp.)

Catadromous species Most of adult life spent in freshwater streams and lakes in N America and Europe Mature adults migrate to spawning g g p g grounds in the Atlantic Ocean (Sargasso Sea) Young migrate back to freshwater

Freshwater prawns
Amphidromous species Adult life spent in freshwater streams Mature adults spawn in freshwater Tiny, pelagic larvae drift downstream to sea Juveniles migrate upstream into freshwater
Direction of river flow

Giant freshwater prawn or Udang Galah (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) (M b hi b ii)

http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/2608/en

Photo Credit:US Fish and Wildlife Service Bauer & Delahoussaye 2008. J. Crust. Biol.

Bauer & Delahoussaye 2008. J. Crust. Biol.

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Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis

Catadromous species (or amphidromous?) Most of adult life spent in freshwater streams in Asia Mature adults migrate downstream to estuaries and coastal seas to spawn Young migrate back upstream into freshwater

Land crabs
Robber Crab (Birgus latro) Christmas Island Red Crab (Gecarcoidea natalis) Land Crab (Cardisoma carnifex)

(Photo: W. Lee Mecum, California Department of Fish and Game)

Juvenile crabs moving upstream into freshwater

Gravid adult female crabs spawn in brackish water

Larval stages in brackish to saltwater

What do you think?

How does the migration of diadromous organisms link the ecology of freshwater and marine environments?

Are there any species that move between freshwater and the sea, but not for breeding?

What are some anthropogenic impediments to this biological link between the two aquatic environments?

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