Department of Biology

3rd year
Course Title: Aquatic Science and Wetland
Management (4071)

NEKEMTE, ETHIOPIA

05/20/2025 Handouts 1
 Objectives
 After successful completion of this course a student will be able to:

 Define inland water, freshwater and marine water

 Describe biotic resources of the world aquatic ecosystem such
as fish resources
 Discuss contribution of wetlands to the wellbeing of animals in
the area
 Analyze water quality using different methods
 Participate in community water conservation and pollution
control activates
 Discuss on international treaties on wetland and freshwater
ecosystems such as the Ramseur Convention and the Nile Basin
Initiative

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 Outlines
 Introduction

 Major freshwater bodies and wetlands of Ethiopia

 Aquatic ecosystems

 Water pollution

 Water quality assessment

 Aquatic ecosystems and their catchments

 Aquatic resources (Fish and fisheries)

 Water basin management and monitoring

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 Introduction
What is Aquatic
Is a science of water habitat or
science? study about aquatic ecosystems.

 Water is the only substance on Earth that is present in all three states of matter –
as a solid, liquid or gas.

Aquatic ecosystem
 An ecosystem

 is an entity formed by the interaction between living organisms

and physical environments.
 It is classified into 2 main categories: based on land and water

1. Terrestrial ecosystems
 Contain organisms that depend on
physical environment on land masses of
continents.
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 2. Aquatic ecosystems
 Are ecosystems composed of living orgs and non living
elements interacting in water env’t.
 Is community of plants and animals that primarily
depend on water.
 It is composed of biotic communities & abiotic
environmental factors.

 Biotic components of aquatic ecosystems are:

 Autotrophic orgs: are producers
that generate organic compounds from inorganic material.
 Heterotrophic
• organisms consume autotrophic organisms and use the
organic compounds in their bodies as energy sources
and as raw materials to create their own biomass.

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 Aquatic Ecosystems

 Abiotic environmental factors of aquatic ecosystems are:

 Amount of dissolved oxygen

 Amount of light

 Temp.

 pH

 Nutrients

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  Importance of Aquatic Ecosystems
 AE is water ecosystems that provides many vital env’tal functions to
both human beings & others organisms.
 Aquatic ecosystems perform many important environmental
functions Such:
 recycling of nutrients
 water purification
 Habitat for orgs.
 used for human recreation
 Source of income (transportation, agriculture…)
 recharging of ground water and
 providing habitats for wildlife.

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  Category of aquatic ecosystems
based on salt contents:

There are two major types of aquatic ecosystems

 Determined by the salinity of water.
 Based on the quality of water involved

Freshwater Marine
Ponds & Lakes Oceans
Streams & Rivers sea
Wetlands Estuaries

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  Distribution of aquatic ecosystem
Fig.1.1 Distribution of aquatic ecosystems

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  Marine ecosystem
(Oceans, Seas & Estuariens)

 Marine ecosystems cover approximately 71% of the Earth's

surface
 Contain about 97% of the water found on planet.
 Generate 32% net primary production of the world.
 Characterized by high salinity reaching 370gm of salt per liter of
water.
 It includes:
 Ocean
 sea and
 estuaries

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  Properties of Marine Ecosystems
The water has high salinity, density, viscosity,
pressure and high temperature.
Have low dissolved oxygen concentration and
high carbon dioxide.
Have high latent heat of fusion and vaporization.
 Oceans
Main body of salty water.
Is cover about 70% of earth surface.

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  The major oceanic divisions
 Pacific Ocean- it separates Asia and Australia from the
Americas
 Atlantic Ocean- it separates the Americas from Eurasia and
Africa
 Indian Ocean- it separates Africa and Australia
 Southern Ocean- it has no landmass separating, it the southern
portions of the Pacific Atlantic, and Indian Oceans,
 Arctic Ocean- sometimes considered as sea of the Atlantic,
which covers much of the Arctic and washes upon northern
North America.
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  Seas

Are smaller than ocean and partially enclosed by

lands.
a large body of water that is smaller than an ocean.
Most commonly, the term refers to a large area of
saline water connected with an ocean, and is
commonly used as a synonym for ocean.
It is also used sometimes to describe a large saline
lake that lacks a natural outlet.
E.g. Red Sea and Arabian Sea

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 Estuarine
 is the area were a freshwater (stream &river) merges
with the ocean.
Salinity with in the estuary varies from nearly the
freshwater to ocean water.
Are very productive due to nutrients brought in by
rivers & have a diverse flora and fauna.
 Eg. Salt marsh grasses, algae…
 Many species of annelids, craps & fish are also
present.
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 Aquatic ecosystem cont.
Freshwater (inland) aquatic Ecosystems
 Fresh water is a very small proportion of earth’s area.
 It is only 3% of the total water bodies found on the earth.
 Defined as; Salt less water
 It contains < 10gm salt per one liter of H2O
 Are categorized into 2 types based on:
 Patterns and speed of water flow
 Climate of area in w/c its located

Lotic (moving water)

Inland water
Lentic (standing water)
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  Lentic

 refers to standing water bodies.

 It is the ecosystem of a lake & pond

 Lotic

 Running/moving water bodies

 Is rapidly moving fresh water in one direction

 Water flowing in uniform direction/ unidirectional way.

E.g. Rivers and streams

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  Rivers and streams

 Water bodies moving continuously in one direction

 The structure of lotic ecosystems change from their
point of origin(head water)to larger body of water
(mouth)
 Rivers with rough and shallow bottoms produce
turbulent flow is called riffles.
 Rivers with smooth and deep bottoms result in a
slower smooth flow called pools.

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  At the head waters(source zone)
 Often begins as spring or snow melt.
 Is cold and clear
 Carries little sediment
 Has few mineral nutrients
 Channel is narrow with a rocky substance
 Water flows turbulently.

 Near the mouth of water

 Moves slowly
 Is more turbid due to sediment entering from others
streams and erosion.
 Contains more nutrients.
 Channels water

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