Estuaries, Worksheet Answer-Key and Review!!

Next Topic: Estuaries!

Estuaries!

Estuaries are the most productive ecosystems on earth… (p. 168-9)

• Fresh-water rivers meet the salt-water ocean, making water that’s SLIGHTLY salty (or BRACKISH).

• Erosion from the river, carries soil, rocks and minerals as the river flows.

• Dead plants, animals and other things flow in the river as well.

Why are estuaries so productive??

• All of the minerals, soil, rocks and dead plant / animal matter (along w/ the DECOMPOSERS that break them down) are DEPOSITED in estuaries, where the flow of the river STOPS!

• Estuaries are so productive because they’re FULL of NUTRIENTS!

• How does this help their productivity?• Think about PRODUCERS, consumers, and the

energy pyramid…

Grass – A pioneer species

1) Grass grows very QUICKLY. We find it in Stage 1, because the area is very open. There’s plenty of nutrients available in the soil, and plenty of sunlight too.

Grasshopper sparrow

2) A sparrow is a bird. The grasshopper sparrow eats grasshoppers, which live in the grass. As the grass goes away, so do the grasshoppers! There’s no more food for the birds, so they leave!

Features of a Climax Community

3) By stage 4, trees have taken over.4) A climax community is usually made of large, slow-growing trees. They are very tough, and can grow in the shade (without much sun) where pioneer species like grass and small plants usually die! The trees are now stealing all the sunlight, water and soil space from the grasses and other plants beneath them.

Short-Tailed Shrew

• 5) The shrew survives all 4 stages because it eats seeds, fungi (mushrooms), worms, insects, and other small mammals. It lives through all 4 stages because it eats EVERYTHING!

• The shrew is one of very few venomous mammals!

Biome Review

• Look at the Biome Worksheet– The climate of an area effects the type of animals

that live there.• What type of animals are best suited to

survive in each Biome? How does it relate to the climate of each one?

• E.x. the extreme COLD of the Arctic Tundra• The extreme HEAT and DRYNESS of the

desert?