8. ocean life
What are the various ocean life zones and what factors in these zones contribute to the relative abundance and diversity of plants and animals living there?
In the ocean, there are various different types of plants and animals. A lot of things, however, contribute to the amount of life in certain places. One thing that can contribute to the life in a certain part of the ocean is the amount of sunlight that goes through the water. Another thing that contributes, is the temperature of the water (Oceanographers have found that more plants and animals live at the top of the ocean because of the simple fact that it's warmer). Another thing that could determine the ocean life is the water pressure. It turns out that a lot of animals live towards the top of the ocean because they simply can't stand the pressure at the bottom. Water pressure increases with the depth because the farther down you go, the more water that's pressing on top of you.
Plants and animals are separated into 3 major groups (depending on habits, and depth of water where they live).
Plants and animals are separated into 3 major groups (depending on habits, and depth of water where they live).
Plankton-
This is the largest group of animals and plants, and they always live near of at the very top of the ocean. If they live near the shoreline, you can find them around the depth of 1meter. If they live in the open sea, up to 200 meters. Most plankton are very small (like plankton from spongebob) and some are even microscopic. Some planktons include algae, shrimp,etc. Unfortunately plankton are a major target for a lot of bigger sea animals, like whales.
Nekton-
Nekton includes all ocean animals that swim, such as whales, seals, dolphins, squid, octopuses, barracudas, etc. Nekton are semi-close to the top of the food chain, able to constantly search for food and avoid predators. This particular group of sea life are found at every depth of the ocean (some are near the top and others are at the bottom).
Benthos-
Benthos are ocean life that live on the floor. The plant benthos that live on the floor, also only live in shallow water where the sunlight can hit them. The animal benthos attach themselves on the floor of the ocean and can live anywhere from shore areas, to the deepest parts of the ocean. Some examples of benthos are oysters, crabs, shellfish, etc.
Along with the 3 different groups of ocean life, there are 3 different groups of life zones. These life zones are determined by the conditions of the ocean. Now, I'm going to explain them all!
Intertidal zone-
There are three major temperature classification in the ocean: extremely hot, extremely cold, and just in-between. The intertidal zone is the one that is constantly drying up and then getting strutted because of the rise and fall of tides. This zone gets dried and soaked two times every day, and thats why there isn't a lot of life because it's hard for animals and plants to be constantly going through those changes. A lot of the organisms living in this zone are anemones, crabs, clams, and plants like seaweed. Some animals in this zone even burry themselves in wet sand to be protected from the low tides effect.
Neritic Zone-
This zone goes for about 200 meters, extending from the low-tide line to the edge of the continental shelf. This particular zone has the most life because of it's lush conditions. It gets just enough sunlight leaving the temperature constant, and it doesn't have very high water pressure. This zone is a home to all three ocean animal groups and is covered with seaweed. Some animals you would find in the neurotic zone are fish, clams, snakes, whales, lobsters, etc. The light blue part of the following diagram staring from the continental shelf is considered the neritic zone.
Bathyal and Abyssal Zones-
Bathyal-This zone begins where the neurotic zone ends, and goes down about 2000 meters. This zone supports more life toward the top, and less life/no plants towards the bottom because there is no sunlight able to hit it. Mainly squid, octopus, and large whales live in this area.
Abyssal-This zone, along with bathyal, is considered an open ocean zone. This zone, starting from the end of the bathyal zone, extends about 6000 meters. This zone is hardest to support life simply because it's below freezing (no sunlight is able to hit this zone) and water pressure is very high. Not many animals live here, there there are some that can service this harsh environment. This life mostly consists of small, creepy looking animals. The image below is a picture of ALL the life zones and the animals that live in them.
Abyssal-This zone, along with bathyal, is considered an open ocean zone. This zone, starting from the end of the bathyal zone, extends about 6000 meters. This zone is hardest to support life simply because it's below freezing (no sunlight is able to hit this zone) and water pressure is very high. Not many animals live here, there there are some that can service this harsh environment. This life mostly consists of small, creepy looking animals. The image below is a picture of ALL the life zones and the animals that live in them.