Lesson 2

Why is marine
aquatic ecosystem
important?
 OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson the students should be

able to:
a. define aquatic ecosystem;
b. describe the importance of aquatic resources;
and
c. relate the importance of aquatic ecosystem to real
life scenario.
Oceans Provide Vital Ecological and
Economic Services
 Life Zones

• coastal zone is the warm, nutrient-rich, shallow

water that extends from the high tide mark on the
land to the gently sloping, shallow edge of the
continental shelf (the submerged part of the
continents). It makes up to less than 10% of the
world’s ocean area, but it contains 90% of all marine
species and is the site of largest commercial marine
fisheries.
 Life Zones

• Most coastal zone aquatic systems such as

estuaries, coastal marshes, mangrove forests, and
coral reefs have a high net primary productivity. This
is the result of the zone’s ample supplies of sunlight
and plant nutrients that flow from land and are
distributed by wind and ocean current.
 Estuaries and Coastal Wetlands

 coastal land areas covered with water all or

part of the year- include river mouths, inlets,
bays, coastal marshes (salt marshes) and
mangrove forests. They are some of the earth’s
most productive ecosystems because of high
nutrient inputs from rivers and nearby land, rapid
circulation of nutrients by tidal flows, and ample
sunlight penetrating the shallow water.
 Seagrass beds
• components of coastal marine biodiversity.
They consist of at least 60 species of plants
that grow underwater in shallow marine and
estuarine areas along most continental
coastlines. These highly productive and
physically complex ecosystems support a
variety of marine species. They also help
stabilize shorelines and reduce wave impacts.
 • Life in this coastal ecosystem is harsh. It
must adapt significant daily and seasonal changes
in tidal and river flows, water temperature and
salinity, and runoff of eroded soil sediments and
other pollutants from the land. Because of these
stresses, despite of its productivity, some coastal
ecosystem has low plant diversity composed of the
few species that can withstand the daily and
seasonal variations.
 Mangrove Forest
• Mangrove forests are found along some of 70% of
gently sloping sandy coastlines in tropical and
subtropical regions, especially Australia and Southeast
Asia.
• The dominant organisms in this nutrient rich coastal
forests are mangroves- 69 different tree species can
grow in salt water. They have extensive root systems
that often extend above the water, where they can
obtain oxygen and support the trees during periods of
changing water levels.
 Mangrove Forest
• they have sustainably supplied timber and
fuelwoods to coastal communities. Loss of
mangroves can lead to polluted drinking water,
caused by inland intrusions of saltwater into
aquifers that are used to supply clean freshwater.
 Life Zones

The gravitational pull of the moon and sun causes

tides in coastal areas. The area of shoreline
between low and high tides is called the intertidal
zone. Organisms living in this zone must be able to
avoid being swept away and damage by waves, and
must deal with being immersed during high tides
and left high and dry at low tides.
 Life Zones

The sharp increase in water depth at the edge of

the continental shelf separates coastal zone from
the vast volume of the ocean called the open sea.
Primarily on the basis of the penetration of
sunlight, this deep blue sea is divided into three
vertical zones. But temperature also changes with
depth and we can use them to define zones that
help to determine species diversity in these layers.
a.Euphotic Zone- bright lit upper zone, with drifting
phytoplankton carry out about 40% of the world’s
photosynthesis, nutrient levels are low and dissolved
oxygen are high in the zone. There is one exception to
this, however.
b.Upwelling Zone- ocean currents driven by differences
in temperature or by coastal winds bring water up from
the abyssal zone. The zone carries nutrients from the
ocean bottom to the surface for use by producers, and
thus these zones contain high level nutrients.
c. Bathyal Zone- a dimly lit zone, which does not contain
photosynthesizing producers. Zooplanktons and smaller fishes,
many of which migrate to feed on the surface at night,
populate this zone.
d. Abyssal Zone- dark and very cold. There is no sunlight to
support photosynthesis, and this zone has little dissolved
oxygen. The deep ocean floor is teeming with life- so much
that is considered a major life zone- because it contains
enough nutrients to support a large amount of species. Most
organisms of the deep waters and ocean floor get their food
from showers of dead and decaying organisms- called marine
snow- drifting down from upper, lighted levels of the ocean.
The salty oceans cover 71% of the earth’s surface. Almost all of the earth’s water is
in the interconnected oceans, which cover 90% of the planet’s mostly ocean
hemisphere (left) and half of its land–ocean hemisphere (right). Freshwater systems
cover less than 2.2% of the earth’s surface.
 AQUATIC LIFE ZONES

saltwater or marine (oceans freshwater (lakes,

and their accompanying rivers, streams, and
estuaries, coastal wetlands, inland wetlands)
shorelines, coral reefs, and
mangrove forests)
• Phytoplankton (“FY-toe-plank-ton”) Greek
for “drifting plants”, which includes
many types of algae. They and various
rooted plants near shorelines are
primary producers that support most
aquatic food webs.
• Zooplankton (“ZOH-uh-plankton”) Greek for
“drifting animals”. They consist of primary
consumers (herbivores) that feed on
phytoplankton and secondary consumers
that feed on other zooplankton. They range
from single-celled protozoa to large
invertebrates such as jellyfish.
• Ultraplankton- consists of huge populations of
much smaller plankton. These extremely
small photosynthetic bacteria may be
responsible for 70% of the primary
productivity near the ocean surface.
⚬ nekton, strongly swimming consumers
such as fish, turtles, and whales.
⚬ benthos, consists of bottom dwellers such as
oysters, which anchor themselves to one
spot; clams and worms, which burrow into
the sand or mud; and lobsters and crabs,
which walk about on the sea floor
⚬ decomposers, which break down organic
compounds in the dead bodies and wastes of
aquatic organisms into nutrients that can be
used by aquatic primary producers.