Ecosystem of Pacific Salmon

ECOSYSTEMS of the Pacific Salmon Life Cycle

Rainer Luhrs Outreach and Education Stillaguamish Tribe Natural Resources What does ECO mean?

• ECO is short for habitat or environment

• Ecosystem = habitat system! What are SYSTEMS?

A SYSTEM is a group of parts that work together to perform a function or task SYSTEM INPUTS SYSTEM OUTPUTS 3 Main Inputs to Ecosystems Outputs of an ecosystem ECOSYSTEMS • A natural or biological community that includes all of the biotic and abiotic parts that impact that community • Abiotic = natural and non-living • Biotic = presently living or formed from a living organism

What are some examples of Abiotic and Biotic things? Types of biotic interactions in an ecosystem

Disease (E. Coli) Predator/Prey Parasitism

Mutualism Decomposition Types of abiotic factors in ecosystems

• Water/air temperature • pH (acidity) • Amount of available light • Climate • Wind • Altitude • Nutrients • UV radiation • Currents • Salinity • Storm events • Type of soil Climate

• Weather in a place over the course of 30 years or more • Climate is an important factor in an ecosystems • It can determine the types of vegetation, trees and animals that live in a given ecosystem Adaptations • Is a special skill which helps an animal or plant survive and do everything it needs to do

Physical adaptations Behavioral adaptations Examples of Adaptations—Deep Sea Creatures

Blind Lobster Red Mid-Water Comb Jelly

Deep sea animals have to live in a very cold, dark, and high-pressure environment where they can't see a thing! To survive there, they've evolved some very strange Yeti Crab adaptations. Some make their own light, an ability called bioluminescence, while others are totally blind. Fangtooth Fish Ecosystems of the Pacific Salmon Life Cycle

Riparian/FW

FRESH WATER BRACKISH WATER SALT WATER Riparian Ecosystems Estuary Ecosystem

Courtesy of NOAA Estuary Ecosystem • Where the rivers meet the sea • Driven by tides, so light and temperature vary • Brackish water • Dominated by herbaceous vegetation • Complex network of channels • Lots of human influence – farms and development Intertidal Ecosystem Intertidal Ecosystem

• Intertidal Zone – Marine Coastline • Life between low and high tides • Covered by water at high tide and air at low tide • Organisms adapted to different zones Ocean Ecosystem

• Despite the names "Atlantic" and "Pacific," the ocean is one giant interconnected ecosystem