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Organisms living in this zone are called benthos and include microorganisms (e.g., bacteria and fungi) [2] [3] as well as larger invertebrates, such as crustaceans and polychaetes. [4] Organisms here, known as bottom dwellers, generally live in close relationship with the substrate and many are permanently attached to the bottom.
The benthic boundary layer (BBL) represents a few tens of meters of the water column directly above the sea floor [3] and constitutes an important zone of biological activity in the ocean. [4] It plays a vital role in the cycling of matter, and has been called the “endpoint” for sedimenting material, which fuels high metabolic rates for ...
These organisms can be used to indicate the presence, concentration, and effect of water pollutants in the aquatic environment. Some water contaminants—such as nutrients, chemicals from surface runoff, and metals [20] —settle in the sediment of river beds, where many benthos reside. Benthos are highly sensitive to contamination, so their ...
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.
The water environment allows the organism to be soft, watery and huge. To be watery and transparent is a successful way to avoid predation. [1] Sea water can prevent desiccation although it is much saltier than fresh water. For oceanic organism, not like terrestrial plants and animals, water is never a problem.
Macrobenthos consists of the organisms that live at the bottom of a water column [1] and are visible to the naked eye. [2] In some classification schemes, these organisms are larger than 1 mm; [1] in another, the smallest dimension must be at least 0.5 mm. [3] They include polychaete worms, pelecypods, anthozoans, echinoderms, sponges, ascidians, crustaceans.
The legs of water beetles have little hairs which spread out to catch and move water back in the power stroke, but lay flat as the appendage moves forward in the return stroke. Also, one side of a water beetle leg is wider than the others and is held perpendicular to the motion when pushing backward, but the leg rotates when the limb returns ...
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.