Marine Ecosystems : An Essential Aspect Of Marine Study

Marine Biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine bodies of water. Marine Biologists are the examiners of this science. Marine Biologists play an important role in today’s society because 71% of the Earth is made up of water and only 5% of water on Earth has been discovered (“Ocean”). Without having these scientists in our communities today, the largest part of Earth would remain a mystery. The process of becoming a Marine Biologist is no easy task. It requires years of hard work and dedication through school work and lots of studying on your free-time. Marine Biology is easily one of the most impactful jobs in today’s society.

“Since the beginning of the industrial era, the ocean has absorbed some 525 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, presently around 22 million tons per day” (Ocean Portal, n.d). This number is expected to increase forevermore as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase and the effects of Climate Change worsen. At first, the idea of our oceans absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere may sound great, however, scientists have been quick to learn otherwise. High concentrations of carbon dioxide in oceans can have detrimental effects on the ocean chemistry and marine ecosystems (Hardt; Safina, 2008). Marine ecosystems are greatly complex and depend on every marine organism to function properly, any change can put the whole ecosystem at risk. For example, the increase of carbon dioxide in our oceans is responsible for the dissolving of “brittle star” skeletal parts, which has in effect caused food scarcity for many fish, crabs, shrimp, and other starfish (Leu, 2013). Furthermore, these marine ecosystems are very important to humans- being the primary food source for millions around the world and having an economic market worth trillions of dollars (Hardt; Safina, 2008). Part of keeping these ecosystems safe is to understand how they work and how projected changes can harm marine organisms.

Along the coasts of rocky beaches, an intricate ecological community inhabits the ‘rocky intertidal’ areas. The variety of rocks is home to an array of slimy, squishy, and colorful organisms. This intertidal community is comprised of nine species: three different algae, three stationary filter-feeders, and three mobile consumers. The three algae, Nori Seaweed, Black Pine, and Coral Weed, are the community’s producers and inhabit the bottom of the food chain. The next three species are stationary consumers. They are Mussel, Goose Neck Barnacle, and Acorn Barnacle. Because of their consumer status, they are more competitively dominant than algae. The last three components are the mobile consumers: Whelk, Chiton, and Starfish. They

The results found that sea stars were negatively effected in growth rate by low pH, even lower in high temperature. Mussel growth rate was positively affected by low pH, however there was no response to high temperatures. Predation of sea stars on muscles decreased in lower pH by 50%. The overall effect shows that muscles perform better at the lower pH compared to the sea stars. Another study was done by Ferrari, M. C. O et al. (2015) which studied the effect of stressors, CO2 levels and temperature, on the predatory prey encounters in reef communities. Their method was to put 6 prey and one predator into 4 different treatments for 22 hours and record how many prey survived this was repeated 2 times for each of the 4 treatments. What the results found was that when both stressors were high, high CO2 and high temperature, the predation rate increased from 30% to 70%. Prey selection changed when it was either high CO2 or high temperature but when the stressors were together the prey selection was equal. Risk taking behaviour was also seen to increase during both stressors. A study was performed by Clements, J. C. et

This informational video explains the term symbiosis. In the video, the narrator looks underwater to discover how symbiosis plays a role in aquatic animals. The video also uses animation to goes into in-depth details about mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. The author also provided an image that gave an excellent summary of each type of relationship; by using the (-) sign to represent a harmful relationship, (+) sign to represent a beneficial relationship and (o) to represent a neither harmful nor beneficial relationship.

In today’s world, trash and debris are one of the major problems that are affecting our ecosystem. Numerous animals die every year, due to the clutter deposited in our oceans. Some animals mistake it for food, while others get caught in the garbage that floats within the currents of the polluted waters. An important, yet moving example of the influence of the detritus on the many organisms living in the ocean biome, is the seahorses. In the picture above, this cute, and captivating seahorse drifts in waste all day, as it carries a Q-Tip, and has caught the attention of many people all around the world in awe or repulsion. The photographer behind this picture, wanted to attract the attention of others on social media because he wanted to remind

The tropical reef is a highly competitive environment where every organism is literally engaged in a daily battle for survival. Whether it’s competing for space, food or the opportunity to reproduce, the tropical reef is not quite the home sweet home Disney portrayed in Finding Nemo. While Disney may have been sloppy in terms of ecological accuracy and animal behavior, the movie did highlight some of the more interesting symbiotic reef relationships (e.g. Jacques or Nemo himself). These symbiotic relationships, whether mutualistic or commensal, make it possible for many reef organisms to survive, and they are the topic of this article.

The intertidal rocky shore of Caloundra Beach is inhabited by diverse range of biodiversity of animals and plants, many of which have developed high levels of adaptations throughout their existence. The very boundary of marine and terrestrial ecosystem, this environment is subjected to extremes of the physical environment such as temperature, desiccation, wave turbulence as well the ecological interactions that commonly occur in biotic communities (e.g. competition, predation). However Rocky intertidal shores are easily accessible by humans and provide an enjoyable opportunity for passive recreation and for science and environmental education as well.

The marine biome has a big influence on our terrestrial climate. It provides rain for crops through evaporation, wind to help circulate the air, and affects coastal temperatures.

The world’s oceans cover 70 percent of the earth’s surface (Allsopp, Page, Johnston, & Santillo, 2009). The oceans biodiversity is increasingly becoming more threatened each year by anthropogenic activities such as pollution, destructive fishing methods, overfishing and commercial agriculture (Tyus, 2012). Marine conservation has improved over the years to protect and preserve ecosystems in oceans and seas. To limit the anthropogenic damage, restore habitats, species and preserve vulnerable marine life (Norse & Crowder, 2005). The term marine biodiversity discusses the abundance of species in a geographical area. (Allsopp et al., 2009). The biodiversity and conservation of marine systems can include a range of different types of habitats, the habitat that will be discussed in this study will be tropical coral reefs of Madagascar (Dobson & Frid, 2009). Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse ecosystem within the oceans (Hill, 2005). At a global scale, they tend to have high species diversity to care and support a large number of fish communities (Tyus, 2012). Coral reefs are recognised as the most pristine marine ecosystem of Madagascar; it is species rich but are also very fragile and threatened (Ahamada, Bijoux, Cauvin, Kooonjul, Maharavo, & Pierre-Louis, 2004). Endemic species inhabit this region such as butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) and wrasses (Labridae), which show reliable indicators for the reefs health (Nadon, Griffiths, & Doherty, 2005). Velondriake marine

In addition, some marine populations are dwindling due to the fact that they cannot adjust being stripped away from nutrients they have been accustomed to receiving and the slight change in their surrounding environment in which they are supposed to survive and thrive in. For example, the urchin Paracentrotus lividus and Planktonic larvae are one of the many populations being affected by the alteration. Overall, many populations have a specific range of body temperatures in which they can survive in and if the exterior temperature is affecting this, then a negative consequence can occur. Furthermore, interactions between environmental stressors and temperature have the potential to narrow the types of species that will continue to live, decreasing numbers exponentially. (Garcia) Therefore, temperature displays how it is the most important environmental factor controlling the behavior, distribution,, morphology, and physiology of marine invertebrates. For the Planktonic larvae, the warming can help fertilization but a negative consequence is their time span for their lives may be reduced, which can have a bigger result than expected. With them living for less amounts of time, the predators have less of a chance to capture them but with them living for a shorter period of time, the distance they typically travel in their life may be reduced, as well, altering the connectivity between populations for the better or for the worse. Other marine life being affected as well, besides

Carl Safina is an American author who focuses on marine ecology and has written numerous successful books regarding human relationships with nature and the ways the ocean is changing. In October 2015; he attended Mission blue II. Mission Blue is a campaign that “Ignites Public support for global networks of marine protected areas” (https://www.mission-blue.org/). During his time at Mission Blue II; he recorded a video of himself discussing the topic that a lot of humans as themselves from time too time… “Can animals think or feel?” (Safina, Carl. "What are animals thinking and feeling?" Carl Safina: What are animals thinking and feeling? | TED Talk | TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 July 2017. .). He brilliantly answered this question by saying

The conditions of the marine environment place special demands on the design and use of a camera (ERT Task Sheet, 2015). An average above surface camera cannot simply be made waterproof using a camera housing in order to operate effectively underwater. There are special demands created by various aspects of the marine environment for example, the lens must be designed specifically to recorrect the distortion created by refraction and strobes must be placed away from the camera to avoid backscatter. Refraction mainly occurs when underwater photographers use a flat port (Deep Ocean Diving - Underwater vision, n.d.). These factors would be the reason as to why the camera would not produce accurate or high quality photographs of

As biodiversity indicates the complex relationship between numerous species and the environment, and embodies the diversity of biotic resources, the issues of declining biodiversity have drawn people’s attention in recent decades. Although there are various biodiversity problems throughout regions on earth, the marine biodiversity circumstances in China area own a great impact on Asia marine ecosystem. So the point is to concentrating on analyzing the direct and potential issues in order to improve a better marine environment in China.

Over 70 percent of the world is covered in water. Water plays a huge part in our world, whether the water makes our plants grow that feed our animals and plants that we eat to the water that grows the trees we use to build our infrastructure, or heat our homes with to providing a huge underwater world known as the Ocean and water also is the main reason us, humans, are alive. We need water to live, without water humans would not be able to survive. With this being said water runs our lives. Humans which live on land also rely on life from the ocean for food. Humans must keep the water pollution levels at normal levels or else the water will taint the animals they use for food. The animals are not the only thing they have to worry about polluting in the Ocean. Other pollutants like CO2 and other greenhouse gases make the ocean waters fluctuate. This fluctuation affects the Climate.