marine ecosystems review. ecology ecology is the science that studies how living organisms relate to...

Marine Ecosystems Review

Ecology

Ecology is the science that studies how living organisms relate to each other and their environment

BIOTIC LIVING organisms

•Animals•Plants•Fungi•Bacteria•Protists

ABIOTIC NONLIVING aspects of the environment

• Temperature• pH• Currents• Minerals • Sunlight• Rocks• Water

HABITAT

• Where the organism lives • Area and physical conditions

where an organism lives• It’s “ Address”

OCEAN ZONES

SALT MARSH – Coastal EcosystemHigh Productivity

Located in Estuaries

Wet and dry, long grasses, thick mud, nutrients in sediment

SALT MARSH – ABIOTIC FACTORS

Flooding

Shallow water Sunlight

Mud and Sediment

Tides

SALT MARSH – BIOTIC FACTORS

SALT MARSH – BIOTIC FACTORS

SALT GRASSES

Halophytes – Salt water plants….have adaptations allowing them to live in salt water

ALGAE

• Rich in organic material

• tree roots covered in water

• nursery to many growing organisms

MANGROVE – Coastal EcosystemSimilar to Salt Marshes….bigger, tougher (trees)….found in tropical areas

MANGROVE – Abiotic Factors

Mud

Shallow Waters- sunlight

Warm temperatures

Many nutrients

MANGROVE TREES – Adaptations for life in salt water and mud with low oxygen

Red Mangrove Has stilt like Roots

Black Mangrove – roots below water. “snorkel like root structures called Pneumatophores”

MANGROVE – BIOTIC FACTORS

Why Mangrove Ecosystem Important?

Mangrove Trees Large Entangled Roots….

1. Provide habitats for juvenile fish and invertebrates

2. Hold soil well, protects shoreline from erosion from currents, waves, and storms

Coral Reef – Coastal EcosystemsContintental Shelf

Vast assortment of life, stony formation built from seafloor up, sunny, warm waters, colorful

Coral Reef – Abiotic Factors Sunlight

Shallow water – moderate movement to prevent sediment from accomulating on polyps

Warm

Rocks

Shells

Coral Reef – Biotic Factors

Kelp Forest – Coastal EcosystemsContintental Shelf

Sunny, Cool waters, appears like a dense forest with kelp growing from the seafloor to ocean surface

Kelp Forest – Abiotic Factors

Rocky Coastlines

Sunlight Clear Water

Cool Temperatures

Kelp Forest – Biotic Factors

Open Ocean – Polar Artic

Arctic – Abiotic Factors Cold, Icy Water – often dominated by ice

Ice and snow – reduces sunlight in water

Much sunlight in summer, Little sunlight in winter

Ocean surrounded by land - bordered by shallow continental shelves of NA, Greenland, Russia, Eurasia

Polar Seas – Arctic

Polar Seas – Antarctic

Antarctic – Abiotic Factors Cold Water – often dominated by ice

Ice and snow – In winter…water at edges freeze adding an area the size of North America to the continent

More Extreme Climate than Arctic

Antarctica is a continent….not a frozen sea…it has its own continental shelf

Polar Seas – Antarctic Biotic Factors

Deep Sea Floor – Abiotic Factors Darkness

Cold

Deep water

High Pressure

No Photosynthesis occurs here Fewer communities here

Deep Sea Floor – Benthic

Marine Snow - is a continuous shower of mostly organic detritus (dead organisms & fecal matter) falling from the upper layers

of the water.

Whale Fall

Open Ocean

Open Ocean – Abiotic Factors

Wide open spaces

Available Sunlight

Temperatures vary

No land nearby

Open Ocean – Biotic Factors