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An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem found in and around a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms—aquatic life—that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems. [1]
Aquatic plants have adapted to live in either freshwater or saltwater. Aquatic vascular plants have originated on multiple occasions in different plant families; [5] [9] they can be ferns or angiosperms (including both monocots and dicots). The only angiosperms capable of growing completely submerged in seawater are the seagrasses. [10]
Freshwater ecosystems are a subset of Earth's aquatic ecosystems that include the biological communities inhabiting freshwater waterbodies such as lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, springs, bogs, and wetlands. [1] They can be contrasted with marine ecosystems, which have a much higher salinity. Freshwater habitats can be classified by different ...
Light, water depth, and substrate types are the most important factors controlling the distribution of submerged aquatic plants. [10] Macrophytes are sources of food, oxygen, and habitat structure in the benthic zone, but cannot penetrate the depths of the euphotic zone, and hence are not found there. [1] [7]
Human activities affect marine life and marine habitats through overfishing, habitat loss, the introduction of invasive species, ocean pollution, ocean acidification and ocean warming. These impact marine ecosystems and food webs and may result in consequences as yet unrecognised for the biodiversity and continuation of marine life forms. [58]
Aquatic insects live mostly in freshwater habitats, and there are very few marine insect species. [9] The only true examples of pelagic insects are the sea skaters , which belongs to the order Hemiptera, and there are a few types of insects that live in the intertidal zone , including larvae of caddisflies from the family Chathamiidae , [ 10 ...
Small, colorful, and a lover of habitats with sandy substrates, Red-clawed Crabs are some of the best aquarium pets that aren’t fish. Also known as Mangrove Crabs or Red Crabs, these clawed ...
The following unifying characteristics make the ecology of running waters unique among aquatic habitats: the flow is unidirectional, there is a state of continuous physical change, and there is a high degree of spatial and temporal heterogeneity at all scales (microhabitats), the variability between lotic systems is quite high and the biota is ...