AQUATIC LIFE

ZONES

Terrestrial
biomes
are
determined by the amount
of precipitation and climate,
while aquatic environments
and their unique inhabitants
are
shaped
by
key
environmental factors such
as the sunlights ability to
penetrate water, availability
of
other
nutrients
for
photosynthesis, depth of
the
water,
amount
of
dissolved oxygen and salts,
water temperature, and the
kind of bottom substrate.

Aquatic life zones are divided into freshwater

ecosystems, those with little dissolved salts; and
marine ecosystems, those with high salt
concentration. Other areas, such as estuaries,
have a mixture of salt and freshwater
characteristics.

Ecologists classify four major types of organisms

that participate in aquatic food chains and food
webs. Weakly or freely swimming microscopic
organisms found near the surface are called
planktons. Planktons may be phytoplanktons
(bacteria,
protists,
and
most
algae)
or
zooplanktons (planktons that feed on other
planktons).

Nektons are strong swimmers and they include

turtles, fish, squids, or sharks. Residing mostly at
the bottom, specifically on the seafloor or seafloor
sediments, are the benthos, which can include
both sessile (attached in one place barnacles,
sea anemone) or motile (has ability to move
around oysters, crabs, lobsters) creatures. The
decomposers are mostly bacteria that degrade
organic compounds from dead bodies and waste of
aquatic organism.

MARINE
ENVIRONMENTS

An estimated 90% of all

photosynthesis and release of
free oxygen take place in the
oceans, which covers about
70% of the Earth. The ocean
bed can be muddy, sandy, or
rocky; the shoreline can have
smooth, sandy beaches or
jagged, rocky cliffs; and the
depth can be centimeters or
kilometers deep. These and
other factors dictate the types
of organisms that occupy each
region.

Ecologist classify ocean habitats according to their

depth, type of ocean bed, and amount of light. The three
major marine communities are coastal zone (shallow
ocean waters), open sea surface, and deep seawater.
The coastal zone has warm and nutrient- rich waters
that extend near the shallow edges of the continental
shelf. The rising of the tides can be observed if it is an
intertidal area where rocky shores are mostly found.
Estuaries, coastal wetlands, mangroves, and coral reefs
are also situated near their zone. Coral ecosystems
require shallow warm water; hence they are usually
found near the equator where planktons will have ample
supply of sunlight for photosynthesis.

The open sea surface extends from the end of

the continental shelf to the vast region of the
ocean where no land is in sight. It has several
divisions based on the amount of light received by
its organism.

The deep sea water zone, where it is dark and

very cold with little dissolved oxygen, occupies the
lowest part of the ocean. Organisms in this area
are scavengers that feed on whatever gets adrift
their path. Most deep sea creatures adapt to this
zone through bioluminescence, which allows their
bodies to glow to either attract a mate or prey.