Marine Ecosystems

1. Marine Ecosystems A brief overview of different marine ecosystems

2. Marine Environments and Habitats • Habitat – the place or “home” in which an organism is typically found • Environment – the total surroundings of living things • The oceans have many environments, some coastal and some out at sea • Environments have 2 components – living and nonliving

3. Living Components of Environments • These are the biological aspects of environments, having to do with living things • These things are called “biotic” things and the living things within environments are called “biota” • For example, a coral reefs biota consists of algae, fish, crustaceans, cnidarians, sponges, bacteria, etc. Anything living that inhabits the area

4. Nonliving Components of Environments • The nonliving aspects of environments are the physical and chemical parts that make up the environment • These are the “abiotic” things • For example, the abiotic aspects of a coral reef are the water chemistry, light, temperature, salinity, and pressure • It is the interactions between the biotic and abiotic factors that characterize environments!

5. Identify Some Biotic Factors

6. Biotic Factors • Fish • Sea stars • Predators

7. Identify Some Abiotic Factors

8. Abiotic Factors • Salinity of the water • Sunlight • Weather/Climate • Nutrient availability • Waves

9. Different Marine Life Zones (A Review)

10. Life Zones Review

11. Sandy Beach Environment

12. The Sandy Beach Environment • Made up of small sand, crashing waves and exposed to fresh water from rain and runoff • Has distinct zonation of life, contains small organisms adapted to sandy environments (such as the mole crab and surf clam)

14. Video

15. Rocky Coasts (Ex: Our West Coast)

16. Rocky Coast • Greatly affected by tides • Crashing waves • Ice in higher latitudes • Intense sunlight in tropic regions • Fresh water runoff which can contain a lot of minerals and lots of dissolved gas

17. Rocky Coasts continued • During high tides the intertidal zone is exposed to ocean grazers • During low tide it is exposed to terrestrial (land) grazers • Large quantity of food available because of the high level of nutrient availability

18. Barnacles!

20. Estuary Environments • An estuary is an area where fresh and salt water mix (brackish – mixture of salt and fresh water) • Usually occurs along coasts near rivers. • Affected by tides

21. Birds Eye

22. Estuarine Salt Marshes

23. Estuarine Salt Marshes • Costal region that is affected by the tides • Can potentially have extreme temperature changes • Generally calm waters • Fresh and salt water mix in this area

24. Estuarine Salt Marshes Continued • Has a lot of decaying material • High primary productivity • Many marsh grasses, hermit crabs, shrimp, eels and ducks • Act as nurseries

25. Mud flats

26. Mudflats • Characterized by dark, muddy sand and no marsh grasses • Very little wave action so the sands are poorly aerated

27. Mud flats • Decaying material tends to accumulate • Kind of a graveyard • Causes a gross, rotten egg smell if you disturb the sand • Home to lots of scavengers • Mud snails, blood worms…

28. Mangroves

29. Mangrove • Found in tropical regions • Affected by the tides • Water may be brackish (mixing salt and fresh water) in some mangrove environments

30. Mangroves Cont. • Mangrove trees are dominant • Form an intricate system of tangled prop roots • Serves as a nursery for fish • Lots of decaying materials • Barnacles, snails, crabs and fish are typical of this environment

31. Coral Reef

32. Coral reefs • Found in warm environments • Clear, nutrient poor water • High wave energy environments

33. Corals Continued • Coral polyps create oddly shaped crevices which fish can hide and live in • Acts a nursery and protects them from predators

34. Corals Continued • Has a high level of biodiversity (number of species) • Parrot fish, sharks, butterfly fish and corals are typical of this environment

35. Brochure assignment • You will be assigned the zone/ecosystem your group will be doing.