AQUA SCI 1, SECTION B The Difference Between Fresh Water Ecosystem and Marine Ecosystem Water covers approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface, making it the habitat of the world’s largest ecosystem, the aquatic ecosystem. There are two main types of aquatic ecosystems: fresh water ecosystem and marine ecosystem. Marine ecosystem covers 71 percent of the earth’s surface, with different habitats from the coral reefs to the deepest parts of the ocean. Fresh water ecosystems cover only about 0.8 percent of the earth’s surface but holds about 41 percent of the world’s known fish species. The main factor that differentiates these two ecosystems is theirs habitat’s salinity, the saltiness or the salt content of a body of water. Another is the species that live in these ecosystems. Marine animals couldn’t live on a freshwater ecosystem and vice versa. Remember, about 2.9 percent of marine water contains sodium and chloride ions while fresh water only contains about 0.02 percent of inorganic materials. The minerals/elements present in a habitat will not only affect the size or the population of certain species, but it also influences its coloring and its health. Freshwater organisms will be less colorful and generally smaller than marine organisms. Organisms in a freshwater ecosystem live in a hypotonic solution and must maintain a ion balance to help natural diffusion unlike marine organisms which live in hypertonic solutions which perform the exact opposite body function to live. Sources: http://www.bsu.edu/eft/ecosystems/p/activity10.html http://enviroliteracy.org/article.php/1410.html https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091010163235AAy1gtK http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/64462.aspx
