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The term benthos, coined by Haeckel in 1891, [3] comes from the Greek noun βένθος 'depth of the sea'. [1] [4] Benthos is used in freshwater biology to refer to organisms at the bottom of freshwater bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, and streams. [5] There is also a redundant synonym, Benton. [6]
The deep-sea floor is called the abyssal plain and is usually about 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) deep. The ocean floor is not all flat but has submarine ridges and deep ocean trenches known as the hadal zone. [6] For comparison, the pelagic zone is the descriptive term for the ecological region above the benthos, including the water column up to ...
[14] [15] The current number of species living in the benthic boundary layer is widely unknown. However, it is theorized that up to 10,000,000 species are living in the BBL. [ 16 ] These organisms ultimately play a vital role in the remineralization of matter and aid in breaking down POM that may eventually become permanent sediment.
Filamentous cyanobacteria growing on an underwater surface. Phytobenthos (/. f aɪ t oʊ ˈ b ɛ n θ ɒ s /) (from Greek φυτόν (phyton, meaning "plants") and βένθος (benthos, meaning "depths") are autotrophic organisms found attached to bottom surfaces of aquatic environments, such as rocks, sediments, or even other organisms.
Oceanic plants and animals easily capture what they need for their daily life, which make them 'lazy' and 'slow'. Sea water removes waste from animals and plants. Sea water is cleaner than we can imagine. Because of the huge volume of ocean, the waste produced by oceanic organisms and even human activities can hardly get the sea water polluted.
Estuarine species must be especially euryhaline, or able to tolerate a wide range of salinities. High salinities occur in locations with high evaporation rates, such as in salt marshes and high intertidal pools. Shading by plants, especially in the salt marsh, can slow evaporation and thus ameliorate salinity stress.
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.
This theme focuses on how the biota varies based on geographic location. [4] This ecological topology is controlled by a concept called stability domain. Stability domain describes the interaction of a set species and certain abiotic factors that act as a medium to the function and structure of an environment. [ 14 ]