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
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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 Ecosystem
High Productivity
Wet and dry, long grasses,
thick mud, nutrients in
sediment
Located in Estuaries
SALT MARSH – ABIOTIC FACTORS
Flooding
Tides
Shallow water
Sunlight
Mud and Sediment
SALT MARSH – BIOTIC FACTORS
SALT MARSH – BIOTIC FACTORS
Halophytes – Salt water
plants….have adaptations
allowing them to live in salt
water
ALGAE
SALT GRASSES
MANGROVE – Coastal Ecosystem
Similar to Salt Marshes….bigger, tougher
(trees)….found in tropical areas
• Rich in organic
material
• tree roots
covered in water
• nursery to many
growing
organisms
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 Ecosystems
Contintental 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 Ecosystems
Contintental 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