Resource Marine Biome
Resource Marine Biome
Resource Marine Biome
NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
CHARACTERSTICS AND HUMAN
IMPACTS (BIOMES- FORESTS ,
MARINE
UNIT MATRIX
• SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENTOF NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
CHARACTERSTICS AND HUMAN IMPACTS (BIOMES- FORESTS ,
MARINE )
• KC- Relationships RC- Causality, Management and Intervention,
Processes.
• GLOBAL CONTEXT- Identities and Relationships
• SOI- Human Intervention in Management of Processes may be a
Cause leading to changes in Identities and Relationships
Classifying different environments:
ecosystems and biome
• An ecosystem is a group of living organisms interacting with the non-living
parts of an environment. Ecosystems can vary in size, e.g. a single
hedgerow or a whole rainforest.
• Biomes are defined as "the world's major communities, classified
according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by
adaptations of organisms to that particular environment" (Campbell
1996).
• The importance of biomes cannot be overestimated. Biomes have changed
and moved many times during the history of life on Earth
• . More recently, human activities have drastically altered these
communities. Thus, conservation and preservation of biomes should be a
major concern to all..
•:
Types
Fresh
Tundra desert
water
Grass
Marine forests
lands
The freshwater biome
• Freshwater is defined as having a low salt concentration — usually
less than 1%.
• Plants and animals in freshwater regions are adjusted to the low salt
content and would not be able to survive in areas of high salt
concentration (i.e., ocean).
• There are different types of freshwater regions:
• Ponds and lakes
• Streams and rivers
• Wetlands
Marine
• Marine regions cover about three-fourths of the Earth's surface and
include oceans, coral reefs, and estuaries.
• Marine algae supply much of the world's oxygen supply and take in a
huge amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
• The evaporation of the seawater provides rainwater for the land
• Oceans
• Coral reefs
• Estuaries
Marine – oceans -zones
intertidal pelagic,
abyssal benthic
Marine - oceans
• intertidal zone is where the ocean meets the land — sometimes it is
submerged and at other times exposed, as waves and tides come in
and out.
• Because of this, the communities are constantly changing.
• . At the bottom of the intertidal zone, which is only exposed during
the lowest tides, many invertebrates, fishes, and seaweed can be
found.
• The intertidal zone on sandier shores is not as stratified as in the
rocky areas. Waves keep mud and sand constantly moving, thus very
few algae and plants can establish themselves — the fauna include
worms, clams, predatory crustaceans, crabs, and shorebirds
Marine - oceans
• Pelagic zone includes those waters further from the land, basically the open
ocean. The pelagic zone is generally cold though it is hard to give a general
temperature range since, just like ponds and lakes, there is thermal
stratification with a constant mixing of warm and cold ocean currents.
• The flora in the pelagic zone include surface seaweeds. The fauna include many
species of fish and some mammals, such as whales and dolphins. Many feed on
the abundant plankton.
• benthic zone is the area below the pelagic zone, but does not include the very
deepest parts of the ocean (see abyssal zone below). The bottom of the zone
consists of sand, slit, and/or dead organisms. Here temperature decreases as
depth increases toward the abyssal zone, since light cannot penetrate through
the deeper water. Flora are represented primarily by seaweed while the fauna,
since it is very nutrient-rich, include all sorts of bacteria, fungi, sponges, sea
anemones, worms, sea stars, and fishes
Marine - oceans
• the deep ocean is the abyssal zone. The water in this region is very
cold (around 3° C), highly pressured, high in oxygen content, but low
in nutritional content.
• The abyssal zone supports many species of invertebrates and fishes.
Mid-ocean ridges (spreading zones between tectonic plates), often
with hydrothermal vents, are found in the abyssal zones along the
ocean floors.
• Chemosynthetic bacteria thrive near these vents because of the large
amounts of hydrogen sulfide and other minerals they emit. These
bacteria are thus the start of the food web as they are eaten by
invertebrates and fishes.
Marine –Coral reef
• Coral reefs are widely distributed in warm shallow waters. They can
be found as barriers along continents (e.g., the Great Barrier Reef
off Australia), fringing islands, and atolls.
• Naturally, the dominant organisms in coral reefs are corals. Corals are
interesting since they consist of both algae (zooanthellae) and
tissues of animal polyp.
• Since reef waters tend to be nutritionally poor, corals obtain
nutrients through the algae via photosynthesis and also by
extending tentacles to obtain plankton from the water.
• Besides corals, the fauna include several species of microorganisms,
invertebrates, fishes, sea urchins, octopuses, and sea stars.
How are they formed
• Coral reefs are built by coral polyps as they secrete layers of calcium
carbonate beneath their bodies.
• The corals that build reefs are known as “hard” or “reef-building” corals.
Soft corals, such as sea fans and sea whips, do not produce reefs; they
are flexible organisms that sometimes resemble plants or trees.
• Soft corals do not have stony skeletons and do not always have
zooxanthellae. They can be found in both tropical seas and in cooler,
darker parts of the ocean.
Why Care About Reefs?
• Healthy coral reef ecosystems are like bustling cities, with buildings made
of coral and thousands of marine inhabitants coming and going, interacting
with one another, carrying out their business.
• In this sense, coral reefs are the sea’s metropolises. Coral reefs provide
shelter for nearly one quarter of all known marine species.
• And over the last 240 million years, reefs have evolved into one of the
largest and most complex ecosystems on the planet.
• They are home to more than 4,000 species of fish, 700 species of coral, and
thousands of other species of plants and animals
• Scientists estimate that, in total, more than one million species of plants
and animals are associated with the coral reef ecosystem
Coastal Protection
• Healthy reefs act as natural barriers, protecting coastal cities,
communities, and beaches from pounding ocean waves.
• Nearly 200 million people depend on coral reefs to protect them from
storm surges and waves.
• Without coral reefs, many beaches and buildings would become
vulnerable to wave action and storm damage
• . With more frequent and severe storms predicted as part of climate
change, these coastal protection services will become even more
important.
• In the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, some coastlines were
spared further damage as a result of healthy reefs.
• In another instance, when coral and sand was mined away in the
Maldives, it cost $10 million (USD) per kilometer to build a wall to
protect the coastline
Tourism
tectonic
coastal plain