MARINE HABITATS

What is a habitat?

an environment that has all necessary requirements for an organism to live.

 Figure 1. Divisions of the marine environment.

Four major types of Ocean ecosystems :

Open Ocean

Deep Sea

Upwelling region

Continental Shelf

Open Oceanareas away from the coastal boundaries and

above the seabed. encompasses the entire water column of the

seas and the oceans and lies beyond the edge of the continental shelf.

extends from the tropics to the polar regions and from the sea surface to the abyssal depths.

Open ocean

WHY OPEN OCEANS HAVE LOW PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY?

Figure 2. Global patterns of productivity

Continental shelf ecosystems

is characterized by a very gentle slope less than 1 degree. The average depth is about 150 m and it has an average width of 70 km.

local variations are common, ranging from more than 1000 km in the Arctic Ocean to a few kilometers along the Pacific coast of North and South America.

The water above the continental shelf is called neritic water

Continental shelf ecosystems

Continental Shelf

WHY CONTINENTAL SHELF HAVE HIGH PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY?

Tend to have relatively high concentrations of nitrate and other nutrients, averaged over the year.

Estuaries An area in which fresh water from a river mixes

with salt water from the ocean; a transition area from the land to the ocean. Other names: bay, sound, lagoon, harbor, or bayou.

River bringing freshwater to the sea

The Ocean

Area where fresh and salt water mix

Estuary animalsHuge variety including… Blue crab, Stone crab, Fiddler crab, Horseshoe crab, Mosquito, Lobster, Flounder, Stripped bass, Crane, Flamingo, Sea gull, Ibis, Manatee, otters, and many more.

Salt MarshesA low area that is subject to regular, but gentle,

tides, dominated by grasses.Salt marshes do not have trees or shrubsLocation: Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast

Texas salt marsh

Mangrove Swamps

Coastal wetlands located in tropical and subtropical zones; characterized by salt-tolerant trees and shrubs, such as mangrove trees

Coral ReefsStructures in the shallow oceans that are built by

animals called corals; serve as a habitat for many diverse organisms

Require two things: warm temperatures and sunlight There are many different kinds of corals:

Soft corals Hard corals

Upwelling regions

bring nutrient-rich deep water to the surface, fueling primary productivity.

UPWELLING REGIONWinds blowing across the ocean surface push water

away. Water then rises up from beneath the surface to replace the water that was pushed away.

Three Major Mechanisms:Coastal upwellingEquatorial upwelling Island mass effects

Coastal upwellingWinds moving

water along the shore result in a curl Right or Left (N or S hemisphere)

Figure. Productivity along the coast of South America

EL NINO

a warm phase of the interannual climate oscillation called El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event, an example of large-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction, and is characterized by large-scale warming of the surface tropical Pacific Ocean.

Equatorial Upwelling

The net flow of the westward currents are north on north side of the equator, and south on the south side, and this water is replaced by deeper water

Island Mass Effect

As currents encounter islands, deeper nutrient rich water is forced toward the surface.

Deep Sea

the lowest layer in the ocean, existing below the thermocline and above the seabed, at a depth of 1000 fathoms or more.

Deep sea animals exhibiting bioluminescence

 Deep Sea Angler Fish

Lanternfish

Deep sea animals exhibiting bioluminescence

 Deep Sea Angler Fish

Lanternfish

Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents

Figure. Black Smoker

Physical and Chemical factors: minerals Temperatures flow levels of

their plumes

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