Fall 2021 Rivers Run Through Pennsylvania If you ever stood along the shores of a large river, you were probably in awe of its large size and the amount of water it carries. Rivers have a beginning. Inland streams carry water from the land. Streams flow into larger streams, and larger streams unite to form rivers. Rivers eventually flow into lakes, bays, estuaries, or oceans. From a bird's-eye view, a river system looks like a tree. The streams are like branches. The river is like the trunk. Continue reading to learn more about the ecology of rivers, threats, and how you can help. Vocabulary (Watch for these words!) * Abiotic - nonliving parts of an ecosystem * Biotic - living parts of an ecosystem * Carrion - dead and decaying animals * Detritivores - animals that eat detritus and carrion * Detritus - dead and decaying plants and woody debris * Emergent vegetation - plants that grow on the edges of a river, roots are submerged while the stem and leaves grow out of the water www.fishandboat.com * Food web - all the interacting food chains within an ecological community * Primary consumers - animals that eat plants * Producers - plants that animals eat * Secondary consumers - animals that eat plant-eating animals * Submerged vegetation - aquatic vegetation that lives attached to the bottom of a river and is completely underwater * Tertiary consumers - top level predators Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * September/October 2021 45http://www.fishandboat.com