Rivers+&+streams

= Rivers And Streams =

=Abiotic Factors=

Location
Rivers and streams are found everywhere.All rivers and streams need is somewhere to start whether it is a spring, lake or melting snow /ice.

Climate
Because this biome is found everywhere the climate varies. The only restriction is that the temperature is warm enough so that the flowing water does not just turn into solid ice.

Other Abiotic Factors
The mane abiotic factor and most important is the running water in the river or stream. The pH levels in the water is on average 7.4. At the bottom of rivers or streams is rocks and sediment.

= Biotic Factors =

Plants
Plants include algae, long-stemmed water lillies, and duckweed. Most of these plants have special adaptations so they do not float down river along with the current. These adaptations include long stems that connect to the bottom of the river that bend easily or they can be very strong and anchor to the bottom.

Animals
Three kinds of animals are fish, box turtles and frogs. These animals usually can either breath or spend a lot of time underwater which helps these animals survive in their biome.

**Symbiosis**
One example of a mutualism symbiosis is between the nile crocodile and the crocodile bird. When the crocodile is laying around the river banks, it tends to leave its mouth wide open. This allows the bird to land in its mouth and eat all the bits and pieces of food left in the crocodiles teeth. The crocodile gets a cleaning of his mouth and the bird gets food from the crocodiles mouth.

Predator-Prey[[image:grizzly-bear-eating-salmon-photo01.jpg width="267" height="160" align="right"]]
An example of predator-prey in the river and stream biome is a grizzly bear eating a fish. When it is time for the fish to mate in their mating ground, which is up river, they need to back track to get there. Often times there are small water falls which the fish need to jump over. When they jump, the bears are there waiting to snatch the fish right out of the air.

Endangered Species
There are many species in this biome which are becoming endangered. One species which is endagered from the rivers biome is the Central Mudminnow which is a fish indigenous to the streams in Missouri. It is listed as extinct because humans keep destroying the marshy parts of the rivers in which the mudminnows love to call their home.

Food Chain
Algae(Producer) --> Minnow(Primary consumer) --> Bass(Secondary consumer) --> Bear(Tertiary consumer)

=**Human Interactions**= Humans have used rivers and streams for as long as they have been around. Humans have used rivers for the same uses for over 3 thousand years. One way we as humans use rivers it for fishing. Another way we use these waterways is to collect drinking water. The other major reason people have and do use rivers is to swim/bathe. These are ways that people have and do still use rivers.

= Environmental Concerns = The one main environmental factor which dirties the waters of the rivers and streams is pollution. During the industrial revolution, factories would just run pipes into the rivers and put all their poisonous products into the environment. This harmed 99% of the wildlife in these areas. Also, boat gasses leak into the water and contamonate the water a lot as well. There are many groups of people who volunteer their time to cleaning these areas and making sure that no pollution is flowing into these waters.



http://www.thewildclassroom.com/biomes/stream.html http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/fenlewis/Waterquality.html http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/freshwater.html http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/central-mudminnow
 * Work cited**