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However, some marine phytoplankton inhabit the deep sea, often near deep sea vents, as chemoautotrophs which use inorganic electron sources such as hydrogen sulfide, ferrous iron and ammonia. [12] An ecosystem cannot be understood without knowledge of how its food web determines the flow of materials and energy.
The biomass of the abyssal zone actually increases near the seafloor as most of the decomposing material and decomposers rest on the seabed. [9] The composition of the abyssal plain depends on the depth of the sea floor. Above 4000 meters the seafloor usually consists of calcareous shells of foraminifera, zooplankton, and phytoplankton.
The primary decomposer of litter in many ecosystems is fungi. [11] [12] Unlike bacteria, which are unicellular organisms and are decomposers as well, most saprotrophic fungi grow as a branching network of hyphae. Bacteria are restricted to growing and feeding on the exposed surfaces of organic matter, but fungi can use their hyphae to penetrate ...
Prime decomposers are bacteria or fungi, though larger scavengers also play an important role in decomposition if the body is accessible to insects, mites and other animals. Additionally, [ 3 ] soil animals are considered key regulators of decomposition at local scales but their role at larger scales is unresolved.
Environments in which subsurface life has been found [1]. The deep biosphere is the part of the biosphere that resides below the first few meters of the ocean's surface. It extends 10 kilometers below the continental surface and 21 kilometers below the sea surface, at temperatures that may reach beyond 120 °C (248 °F) [2] which is comparable to the maximum temperature where a metabolically ...
Nutrients that do not get used up on the surface will eventually sink down and nourish the seafloor habitat. The deep benthic habitats of the ocean gyres have been thought to typically consist of some of the most food-poor regions on the planet. [8] One of the sources of nutrients to this deep ocean habitat is marine snow. Marine snow consists ...
According to a 2017 study, narcomedusae consume the greatest diversity of mesopelagic prey, followed by physonect siphonophores, ctenophores and cephalopods. [9] The importance of the so-called "jelly web" is only beginning to be understood, but it seems medusae, ctenophores and siphonophores can be key predators in deep pelagic food webs with ecological impacts similar to predator fish and squid.
Sea water carries oxygen and nutrients to oceanic organisms, which allow them to be planktonic or settled. The dissolved minerals and oxygen flow with currents/circulations. 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.