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Marine West Coast Ecosystem Food Chains Article
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An Aquatic Ecosystem is one where aquatic environments are involved.
from:An aquatic ecosystem is where there is more salt water than fresh water involved in the balance of the landscape. Other aquatic ecosystems are fresh water lakes, rivers and estuaries. The aquatic ecosystem includes all life forms and land forms that might occur in each location.
Aquatic ecosystem topography can include tidal zones, coral reefs, river mouths, estuaries and reefs where salt water is predominant. The life forms that live in the aquatic ecosystem will be adapted to life in a salty environment.
Even tropical aquatic ecosystems will have similar conditions as underlying criteria for classification. The levels of salt water will effect the life forms able to exist in the symbiotic relationships needed between aquatic ecosystem and sustainable life.
In studies of an aquatic ecosystem, the predatory nature of some forms of life will mark the food chain of the particular area. In the aquatic ecosystem the food chain begins with the largest predatory mammals and fish and will continue down through the strata of life forms to the smallest poly and coral life. Seals, whales and dolphins exist in an aquatic ecosystem. They make the top of the food chain with fish such as sharks and large predators like turtles and sting rays.
Further down the food chain in an aquatic ecosystem are the smaller fish and crustaceans. It is the way that these creatures exist among the plant life and coral formations that make up the unique relationships in the aquatic ecosystem. Without plant life or plankton the larger species could not exist. Without the tides, the currents and the sand bars or rock reefs the plants could not exist. Without the movement of schools of fish, jelly fish, rays, eels and turtles, the levels of life would not remain in balance.
The impact of human activity on an aquatic ecosystem may not at first be discernable, but study would give an idea of how man has changed the balance of life in any aquatic ecosystem. Not only through the act of fishing, does human activity impact on the aquatic ecosystem, but activities such as fertilization of crops can affect the delicate balance in the aquatic environment. Toxins washing into the tidal zones, plastics floating through an aquatic ecosystem, long lines, waste material and oil spills can all damage a fragile aquatic ecosystem.
Taking care of an aquatic ecosystem, whether it is in tropical waters or in the Arctic or Antarctic oceans will mean the survival of thousands of individual species. There is no aquatic ecosystem that exists without being impacted by what happens in other parts of the globe. The aquatic ecosystem is vital to the health and welfare of all life forms that pass through it.
Marine West Coast Ecosystem Food Chains Specific links
Marine West Coast Ecosystem Food Chains News
Protect forage fish, cornerstone of our ocean's food web - The Seattle Times
 The Seattle Times | Protect forage fish, cornerstone of our ocean's food web The Seattle Times Fortunately, the council will also consider the need to better protect the little fish that form the linchpin of a healthy and productive coastal ecosystem. A new report by a group of leading marine scientists — including two researchers from the ... |
Toxic tsunami debris will flood Alaska shores - Anchorage Daily News
Toxic tsunami debris will flood Alaska shores Anchorage Daily News A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimate stated that 1.5 million tons of tsunami-generated debris will hit the North American west coast. That translates into 30 billion pounds. If only 1% of that reaches Alaska's shores, ... |
Seagrass and the carbon paradox - RenewEconomy
Seagrass and the carbon paradox RenewEconomy Seagrass meadows play an important role in the maintenance of marine biodiversity in coastal ecosystems (Hemming and Duarte 2000), but recent research shows that they also have the capacity to act as intense carbon sinks. In a paper published just this ... |
Ashley Blacow: Sardine population on verge of crash - Monterey County Herald
Ashley Blacow: Sardine population on verge of crash Monterey County Herald In a report published in February, National Marine Fisheries Service scientists warn the sardine population off the West Coast is steeply declining and fishery managers are making the same mistakes all over again. Yet, a separate report, "little fish ... |
Point/Counterpoint: Sardine population off West Coast is in steep decline - The Salinas Californian
Point/Counterpoint: Sardine population off West Coast is in steep decline The Salinas Californian Quite simply, forage species are the base of the ocean food web and removing this food source from the ecosystem is like destroying the foundation of a skyscraper. The result would be an ecosystem crash taking down with it critically important ... |