Marine Ecosystem

Introduction:–

Marine ecosystems are vast and most stable ecosystems on the earth and are of great ecological importance. The seawater is salty with an average of 3.5%. Sodium chloride (NaCl), potassium, magnesium, and other necessary minerals present in seawater. The marine ecosystem is important because gives marine life such as fish, reptiles, invertebrates, sharks, and other aquatic animals.

Fig. 1 : Marine Ecosystem

Definition: Marine ecosystems are the most important ecosystems of the world. Which gives lives to the aquatic organisms. Marine ecosystem in which survives many aquatic organisms like, fish, crustaceans, sharks, reptiles, invertebrates, and many different kinds of organisms.

TYPE Of MARINE ECOSYSTEM

There are 9 different types of marine ecosystems:

1. Mangrove ecosystems:-

Mangroves are the most tolerant species of aquatic rooted plants. Mangrove trees provide shelter for forest aquatic animals. Mangrove trees are found in the Sundarbans delta (Bay of Bengal). Many species are found in mangrove ecosystems such as fish, algae, invertebrates, dolphins, and other aquatic animals.

Fig. 2 : world’s mangrove forest. (photo – Pitara Kids)

2. Salt Marsh Ecosystem:-

Salt wetlands are areas that are flooded by high tides and consist of a combination of salt-tolerant plants and animals. Salt swamps are important in many ways: they provide marine life, bird and migratory bird habitat, they are important nursery areas for fish and invertebrates, and they buffer the liquid step during high tides and storms and protect the rest of the coast by absorbing water.

Fig.3 : Ribbed mussels support salt marsh grasses during a 2016 drought at Sapelo Island, Georgia.

3. Sandy Beach ecosystems:

The sandy beach is important as a rocky ecosystem that gives life to various aquatic life. The marine life of a sandy beach ecosystem can freeze in the sand or move rapidly beyond the reach of the waves. They must fight the tides, the waves, and the currents of the water, all of which can shake off the sea creatures on the beach. This activity can move sand and rocks to different places.

Fig. 4 : Sandy Beach

4. Hydrothermal Vents:

When they are located in the deep ocean, hydrothermal vents and their surroundings create their own unique ecosystem. Hydrothermal vents are submersible geysers that rain mineral-rich, 750-degree water into the ocean. These vents are located next to the tectonic plate, where cracks in the Earth’s crust occur, and in the cracks, seawater is heated by the Earth’s magma. As the water heats up and the pressure increases, the water is released, where it mixes with the surrounding water and cools, depositing minerals around the hydrothermal vent.

Fig no. 5 : Hydrothermal Vents

5. Rocky shore ecosystems:

Rocky shore is home to marine life, which helps the creature survive. Many animals return to rocky shores and ocean waters.

Fig no. 6:  Rocky shore ecosystems

6. Kelp Forest:

Kelp forests are very productive ecosystems. The most influential feature of a kelp forest is – you guessed it – kelp. Calp provides food and shelter for various organisms. Kelp forests are found in cool waters between 42 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit and in depths of about six to 90 feet.

Fig no. 7: Kelp Forest

7. Polar Ecosystem:

Polar ecosystems are found in extremely cold water at the poles of the earth. The availability of sunlight in these regions includes both cool temperatures and fluctuations. Sometime in the polar region, the sun does not rise for several weeks.

Fig. 8 : Polar Ecosystem

8. Deep Sea Ecosystem:

The term “deep sea” refers to different parts of the ocean that are more than 1000 meters (3,281 feet). One challenge for the marine life of this ecosystem is light and many animals have adapted in such a way that they can see or do not need to see in low light conditions. Another challenge is stress. Many deep-sea creatures have soft bodies so they are not crushed under high pressure which is found at extreme depths.

Fig. 9: Octocorals dominated the seafloor on Chris Mah’s Okeanos mission to Johnston Atoll in the remote Pacific Ocean. (NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2017 Laulima O Ka Moana).

9. Coral Reef Ecosystem:

Healthy coral wall ecosystems are full of a surprising amount, including hard and soft corals, multi-sized invertebrates, and even large animals like sharks and dolphins. Reef-builders are stony corals. The core of a wall is a coral skeleton made of limestone (calcium carbonate) and supports a tiny organism called polyps. Eventually, the polyps leave the skeleton behind and die.

Fig. 10: Coral Reefs

Ocean Pollution:

The Marine is the huge body of water on Earth’s surface. Over the past few decades, excessive human activity has caused severe damage to marine life on Earth. Ocean pollution, also known as marine pollution, is the release into the sea of harmful substances such as oil, plastics, industrial and agricultural waste, and chemical particles. Since the oceans are home to a wide variety of marine animals and plants, every citizen has a role to play in cleaning up those oceans so that marine species can thrive for a longer period of time.

Several Causes of Marine Pollution

1. Toxic Chemicals From Industries:

Industrial and agricultural waste is another common form of waste that flows directly into the ocean, causing ocean pollution. Dumping toxic liquids into the ocean directly affect marine life because they are considered dangerous and secondly, they increase the temperature of the sea, a phenomenon is known as thermal pollution because the temperature of these liquids is quite high. Animals and plants that cannot survive high temperatures are eventually destroyed.

2. Littering:

Atmospheric pollution is a huge source of marine pollution, believe it or not. This occurs when long-distance internal objects between the airflow and end up in the ocean, and these objects can range from natural objects such as dust and sand to man-made objects such as debris and debris. Most debris, especially plastic debris, cannot decompose and stays in the ocean for several years. Animals can get stuck on plastic or make it wrong for food, killing them slowly over a long period of time. Animals that are often the victims of plastic debris include turtles, dolphins, fish, sharks, crabs, sea birds, and crocodiles. Also, ocean temperatures are highly influenced by carbon dioxide and climate change.

3. Land Runoff:

Another source of marine pollution island off. It occurs when water enters the soil in its maximum amount and excess water from rainfall, floods or melt flows between land and sea. Often, this water absorbs man-made, harmful pollutants that pollute the sea, including fertilizers, petroleum, pesticides, and other forms of soil contamination. Fertilizers and wastes from land animals and humans can be hugely harmful to the oceans by creating dead areas.

4. Large Scale Oil Spills Plants:

Ship pollution is one of the biggest sources of marine pollution, the most destructive of which is oil spills. Crude oil in the ocean persists for years and is highly toxic to marine life, often killing marine animals after they have been trapped. Unfortunately, crude oil is also extremely difficult to clean, which means it usually stays there when it splits. Also, many ships lose thousands of crates each year due to storms, emergencies, and accidents. This results in noise pollution (excessive, unexpected noise that disturbs the balance of life, mostly due to the mode of transport), creating excess algae and gravel water. Often other species can also attack an ecosystem and cause damage by disrupting the life cycle of other animals, creating a conflict of nature that has already been damaged by the overflow of pollution.

5. Sewage Plants:

Pollution can enter the ocean directly. Wastewater or pollutants flow directly into the ocean through sewage, rivers, or drainage. Often minerals and substances from mining camps end up in the ocean. The release of other chemical nutrients into the ocean ecosystem results in decreased oxygen levels, decomposition of plants, and severe degradation of the quality of the seawater itself. As a result, all levels of ocean life, plants, and animals were severely affected.

6. Marine Mining:

Deep-sea ocean mining is another source of marine pollution. Ocean mining sites for silver, gold, copper, cobalt, and zinc accumulate sulfide below three and a half thousand meters. While we do not yet have a collection of scientific evidence to fully explain the harsh environmental effects of deep-sea excavation, we have a general idea that deep-sea excavation damages the lowest sea level and increases toxicity in the region. This permanent damage also results in leaks, corrosion, and oil spills that only further hamper the region’s ecosystem.

Marine Habits Zones

1. Benthic Zone: The terms of benthic zone are denoted as which forms the basin or floor of the marine, relatively depth of marine.

2. Pelagic Zone: that zone are denoted as which represents the free water zone, filling the basin of ocean.

Biota Of Marine

Definition: The term of Biota is referred to the life of marine, in which both animals and plants survive together. There is found a high diversity of organisms, if we talk about the whole marine, there are almost every major animal group and major algae occur everywhere in the marine.

Types of Biota In Marine

1. Biota of Littoral Zone:

Depending on the intensity of the waterfall, a marine ecological field that experiences the effects of tidal surges and longer currents and the submerged wave sinks to a depth of 5 to 10 meters (16 to 33 feet) below the low-tide level experiences abundant dissolved oxygen, sunlight, nutrients Energy and water velocity and inland subzones are characterized by periodic immersion and exposure. The geological nature of shorelines and Arthur bottles are extremely diverse. As a result, a large number of species and each large filament are involved in the overall adopted lithographic animals, although the number of individuals may vary locally. Each of the coral reefs, rocky beaches, sandy beaches, and shelters is endowed with specialized, intricately intertwined flowers and funnel literal populations.

Fig. 11: Littoral Zone

2. Biota of Neritic Oceanic Zone: 

Around 70 percent of the Earth’s surface ocean has many communities. Life extends to all depths of the ocean, although life is much denser around the margins of continents and islands. However, all the oceans are interlinked. But temperature, salinity, and depth are the main barriers to the free movement of marine organisms. The sea is in constant circulation because the difference in air temperature between the equator and the poles has established strong winds, which together with the rotation of the Earth create fixed currents.