Marine Biome

1. Marine Biome Rachel Speaker Alison Lunden

2. Description The Marine Biome have many features. It is broken up into zones going away from the coast and layers going from top to bottom. It is made up of Oceans, Coral Reefs, and Estuaries. The Marine Biome is all salt water.

4. Zones & Layers zones Layers • Intertidal Zone • Pelagic Zone • Abyssal Zone

5. The intertidal zone • This is where the ocean meets the land. • Sometimes it is under water and sometimes it is not • The waves and tides affect it. • Communities are constantly changing • Where the highest tides reach, there are only a few species of algae and mollusks • Herbivorous snails, crabs, sea stars, and small fishes live here when the tide is high and land is submerged. • Invertebrates, fishes, and seaweed live in the lowest part of this region where the land is only showing when the lowest tide occurs. • Waves keep sand and mud moving all the time • 2 high tides and 2 low tides each day • Any organisms living there must be able to withstand these constant changes, and pounding of water

6. Life in the Intertidal Zone • This is where the coral Reefs are. • Corals live here and they survive using photosynthesis. • Algae is also another plant that lives here. • Starfish, octopi, and mollusks are a few other organisms that call this place home.

8. Pelagic Zone • This includes the waters further from the land, basically the open ocean. • Generally cold, but it is hard to tell an exact temperature because the water is constantly being mixed with warm and cold currents. • Plants are surface seaweed • All sorts of bacteria, fungi, sponges, sea anemones, worms, sea stars, and fishes

9. Life in the Pelagic Zone • Many organisms call this place home. • There are few plants though. • It is mostly fish, mammals, plankton, starfish, anemones, sponges, microorganisms, and floating seaweed.

10. Abyssal Zone • This is the deep ocean. • Very cold (around 3° C) • Very dark because the sun doesn’t reach this zone. • Highly pressured, high in oxygen content, but low in nutritional content • Many species of invertebrates and fishes • Mid-ocean ridges are found here. • Trenches, vents, and volcanoes on the tectonic plates.

11. Life in the Abyssal Zone • Fish that glow in the dark generally live here. • A Fish called Coelacanth is a prehistoric fish that was thought to be extinct that was found again at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

12. Plant Life • More than a million species of animals and plants have been discovered in the marine biome. • Algae in the oceans produce the major amount of the oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere. • Phytoplankton is an important plant • Most marine creatures feed on these; from large whales to the tiniest of fish. • Kelp is another kind of marine plant that is important. • It provides food and shelter to a lot of creatures that live in the marine biome.

13. Animal Life • The marine biome has the greatest biodiversity on the earth. • sea anemones • fungi • bacteria • Crustaceans • Whales • fish • mollusks • And various other types of animals.

14. Animal Characteristics • Animals in the Marine Biome have to be very well adapted. • Some have blubber in order to withstand the extremely cold temperatures of the water, however, the sea otter deals with this condition by having dense fur instead. • Animals in the Intertidal zone have to be able to withstand the strong currents and the constantly changing tide.