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The BBL serves as a transitional zone between the water column and the sediment layer by regulating biogeochemical processes and the flux of nutrients and organic materials. [2] This zone also serves as the main layer of resistance for the shift of mass, heat, and nutrients from the sediment to the water, or vice versa. [ 1 ]
The main food sources for the benthos are phytoplankton and organic detrital matter. [16] [17] In coastal locations, organic run off from land provides an additional food source. [18] Meiofauna and bacteria consume and recycle organic matter in the sediments, playing an important role in returning nitrate and phosphate to the pelagic. [19]
Benthic-pelagic coupling are processes that connect the benthic zone and the pelagic zone through the exchange of energy, mass, or nutrients. These processes play a prominent role in both freshwater and marine ecosystems and are influenced by a number of chemical, biological, and physical forces that are crucial to functions from nutrient cycling to energy transfer in food webs.
For comparison, the pelagic zone is the descriptive term for the ecological region above the benthos, including the water column up to the surface. At the other end of the spectrum, benthos of the deep ocean includes the bottom levels of the oceanic abyssal zone. [7]
Phytobenthos can fix organic matters as primary producers, and the extracellular polymeric substance they produced to attach themselves to surfaces can also be utilized by bacteria as another potential carbon source. [15] The presence of consumers are not the only biotic factors driving changes to the phytobenthos composition in the community.
The six aforementioned elements are used by organisms in a variety of ways. Hydrogen and oxygen are found in water and organic molecules, both of which are essential to life. Carbon is found in all organic molecules, whereas nitrogen is an important component of nucleic acids and proteins.
The six aforementioned elements are used by organisms in a variety of ways. Hydrogen and oxygen are found in water and organic molecules, both of which are essential to life. Carbon is found in all organic molecules, whereas nitrogen is an important component of nucleic acids and proteins.
Walsh Diagram of an HAH molecule. Walsh diagrams, often called angular coordinate diagrams or correlation diagrams, are representations of calculated orbital binding energies of a molecule versus a distortion coordinate (bond angles), used for making quick predictions about the geometries of small molecules.