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The ocean's surface is hit hard by anthropogenic change, and the surface ecosystem is likely already dramatically different from even a few hundred years ago. For example, prior to widespread damming, logging, and industrialisation, more wood may have entered the open ocean, [14] while plastic had not yet been invented. And because floating ...
It is the only true submerged angiosperm and can help determine the state of an ecosystem. [1] Seagrass helps identify the conditions of an ecosystem, as the presence of this plant aids the environment by: Stabilizing the water's bottom, providing shelter and food for animals, and maintaining water quality. [5]
They keep coastal waters healthy by absorbing bacteria and nutrients, and slow the speed of climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide into the sediment of the ocean floor. Seagrasses evolved from marine algae which colonized land and became land plants, and then returned to the ocean about
The pelagic food web, showing the central involvement of marine microorganisms in how the ocean imports nutrients from and then exports them back to the atmosphere and ocean floor. A marine food web is a food web of marine life. At the base of the ocean food web are single-celled algae and other plant-like organisms known as phytoplankton.
"Seaweed" lacks a formal definition, but seaweed generally lives in the ocean and is visible to the naked eye. The term refers to both flowering plants submerged in the ocean, like eelgrass, as well as larger marine algae. Generally, it is one of several groups of multicellular algae; red, green and brown. [7]
These divisions are the Spray zone, High intertidal zone, Middle Intertidal zone, and Low intertidal zone. The Spray zone is a damp area that is usually only reached by the ocean and submerged only under high tides or storms. The high intertidal zone is submerged at high tide but remains dry for long periods between high tides. [27]
Periphyton is a complex mixture of algae, cyanobacteria, heterotrophic microbes, and detritus that is attached to submerged surfaces in most aquatic ecosystems. The related term Aufwuchs ( German "surface growth" or "overgrowth", pronounced [ˈaʊ̯fˌvuːks] ⓘ ) refers to the collection of small animals and plants that adhere to open ...
These tiny plants are the primary producers in the ocean, at the start of the food chain. In turn, as the population of drifting phytoplankton grows, the water becomes a suitable habitat for zooplankton , which feed on the phytoplankton.