Biotic factors include plants, animals, and microbes; important abiotic factors include the amount of sunlight in the ecosystem, the amount of oxygen and nutrients dissolved in the water, proximity to land, depth, and temperature. Sunlight is one the most important abiotic factors for marine ecosystems.
What are the factors of marine ecosystem?
Salinity, or high salt content, and global circulation make marine ecosystems different from other aquatic ecosystems. Other physical factors that determine the distribution of marine ecosystems are geology, temperature, tides, light availability, and geography. Some marine ecosystems are very productive.
What are marine ecosystems Why are they important?
Healthy marine ecosystems are important for society since they provide services including food security, feed for livestock , raw materials for medicines, building materials from coral rock and sand, and natural defenses against hazards such as coastal erosion and inundation.
What is the most important part of the marine ecosystem?
The most important marine ecosystems for marine life are estuaries and coral reefs. These two marine ecosystems are important because the estuaries are breeding territories for many marine animals, because it is easy for young-lings to survive there, since there are no known predators that live in that region.
Why is it important to protect marine ecosystems?
Marine protected areas help protect important habitats and representative samples of marine life and can assist in restoring the productivity of the oceans and avoid further degradation. They are also sites for scientific study and can generate income through tourism and sustainable fishing.
Why are coral reefs important?
Coral reefs protect coastlines from storms and erosion, provide jobs for local communities, and offer opportunities for recreation. They are also are a source of food and new medicines. Over half a billion people depend on reefs for food, income, and protection.
What is marine ecosystem example?
An example of a marine ecosystem is a coral reef, with its associated marine life — including fish and sea turtles — and the rocks and sand found in the area. The ocean covers 71 percent of the planet, so marine ecosystems make up most of the Earth.
Why are marine mammals important?
Marine mammals play important ecological roles as both predator (many hunt for fish) and as prey, both for sharks and other, larger marine mammals. Humans have also long hunted marine mammals for food and fur.
Why are UK marine ecosystems important?
Coastal Marine Ecosystems. The UK has a number of important marine ecosystems, including salt marshes, estuaries and cold-water coral reefs. These ecosystems provide a range of resources. There are many different recreational opportunities in coastal marine ecosystems including swimming, surfing, boating and diving.
How important is aquatic ecosystem to food livelihood and tourism?
Important ecological services derived from aquatic systems include habitat and nutrients for consumed species, protection of adjacent lands from erosion, siltation, storm damages, floods and droughts; nutrient cycling; tourism and recreational value; carbon sinks and gas regulation.
Why is the ocean important essay?
More than 90 percent of the trade between countries is carried by ships. Fish supplies from the sea and oceans are the world’s greatest protein supply to the humans. Around more than 3.5 billion depends on oceans for their primary food. 70% of the oxygen that humans breathe are produced by oceans.
What are coral reefs why are they important to marine lives?
Coral reefs provide an important ecosystem for life underwater, protect coastal areas by reducing the power of waves hitting the coast, and provide a crucial source of income for millions of people. Coral reefs teem with diverse life. Thousands of species can be found living on one reef.
Why is marine pollution important?
It provides over 70 percent of the oxygen we breathe and over 97 percent of the world’s water supply. … Chemicals such as oil, mercury, lead, pesticides, and other heavy metals can all be found within the ocean and can contaminate water supplies and our food chain by affecting the marine life involved.