44.4B: Marine Biomes
- Describe coral reefs and the various zones in the ocean and the types of organisms living in each
Marine Biomes
The ocean is the largest marine biome. It is a continuous body of salt water that is relatively uniform in chemical composition; it is a weak solution of mineral salts and decayed biological matter. Within the ocean, coral reefs are a second kind of marine biome.
Ocean
Physical diversity has a significant influence on the ocean, which is categorized into different zones based on how far light reaches into the water. Each zone has a distinct group of species adapted to the biotic and abiotic conditions particular to that zone.
The intertidal zone (between high and low tide) is the oceanic region that is closest to land. It includes sandy beaches, but can also be rocky or muddy. This zone is an extremely variable environment because of tides. Organisms, exposed to air and sunlight at low tide, are underwater most of the time, especially during high tide. Therefore, living things that thrive in the intertidal zone are adapted to being dry for long periods of time. Since the shore of the intertidal zone is repeatedly struck by waves, the organisms found there are adapted to withstand damage from the pounding action of the waves. The exoskeletons of shoreline crustaceans are tough, protecting them from desiccation and wave damage.
The neritic zone extends from the intertidal zone to depths of about 200 m (or 650 ft) at the edge of the continental shelf. Since light can penetrate this depth, photosynthesis can occur in the neritic zone. The water here contains silt, is well-oxygenated, low in pressure, and stable in temperature. Phytoplankton and floating Sargassum , a marine seaweed, provide a habitat for some sea life found in the neritic zone, including zooplankton, protists, small fishes, and shrimp, which are the base of the food chain for most of the world’s fisheries.
Beyond the neritic zone is the open ocean area known as the oceanic zone. Within the oceanic zone there is thermal stratification where warm and cold waters mix because of ocean currents. Abundant plankton serve as the base of the food chain for larger animals. Nutrients are scarce in this less-productive part of the marine biome. When photosynthetic organisms and the protists and animals that feed on them die, their bodies fall to the bottom of the ocean where they remain. In contrast to freshwater lakes, the open ocean lacks a process for bringing the organic nutrients back up to the surface. The majority of organisms in the aphotic zone include sea cucumbers and other organisms that survive on the nutrients contained in the dead bodies of organisms in the photic zone.
A lower layer is the benthic realm, the deepwater region beyond the continental shelf. The bottom of the benthic realm comprises sand, silt, and dead organisms. Temperature decreases, remaining above freezing, as water depth increases. Due to the dead organisms that fall from the upper layers of the ocean, this nutrient-rich portion of the ocean allows a diversity of life to exist, including fungi, sponges, sea anemones, marine worms, sea stars, fishes, and bacteria.
The deepest part of the ocean, the abyssal zone, at depths of 4000 m or greater, is very cold and has very high pressure, high oxygen content, and low nutrient content. There are a variety of invertebrates and fishes found in this zone, but the abyssal zone does not have plants due to the lack of light.
Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are ocean ridges formed by marine invertebrates living in warm, shallow waters of the ocean. They are found in the photic zone and are important in shore protection. Other coral reef systems are fringing islands, which are directly adjacent to land, or atolls, which are circular reef systems surrounding a former landmass that is now underwater. The coral organisms are colonies of cnidarian polyps that secrete a calcium carbonate skeleton, which slowly accumulates, forming the underwater reef. Corals found in shallower waters have a mutually symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic unicellular algae, which provides corals with the majority of the nutrition and the energy they require. The waters are nutritionally poor; therefore, without this mutualism, it would not be possible for large corals to grow. In contrast, corals living in deeper and colder water attain energy and nutrients by capturing prey using stinging cells on their tentacles.
Global Decline of Coral Reefs
Climate change and human activity pose dual threats to the long-term survival of the world’s coral reefs. Corals evolved to survive at the upper limit of ocean water temperature. Excessive warmth induced by climate change causes reefs to expel their symbiotic, food-producing algae, resulting in a phenomenon known as bleaching. When bleaching occurs, the reefs lose much of their characteristic color as the algae and the coral animals die if loss of the symbiotic zooxanthellae is prolonged.
Key Points
- The ocean is divided into different zones with groups of species adapted to deal with the differences in light level, as well as other biotic and abiotic conditions particular to the zones.
- The intertidal zone is characterized by its high and low tides, as well as wave action; as the zone closest to land, it can be a sandy, rocky, or muddy beach.
- The neritic zone is silted, well-oxygenated, low in pressure, and stable in temperature; it is adjacent to the oceanic zone, in which warm and cold waters mix due to currents in the open ocean.
- The benthic zone is nutrient rich because of the sand, silt, and dead organisms that comprise the bottom of the region; as water depth increases, temperature within this deepwater region decreases.
- The abyssal zone is the deepest part of the ocean and, as such, it is cold, has very high pressure, high oxygen content, and low nutrient content.
- Coral reefs are ocean ridges formed by a mutualistic relationship between cnidarians and photosythetic algae; climate change and run-off are just two reasons why these important organisms are now in decline.
Key Terms
- desiccation : the state or process of drying-out
- zooxanthellae : animals of the genus Symbiodinium, a yellow dinoflagellate, notably found in coral reefs
- photic : of, related to, or irradiated by light; especially describing that part of the near-surface ocean is which photosynthesis is possible