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Detritus occurs in a variety of terrestrial habitats including forest, chaparral and grassland. In forests, the detritus is typically dominated by leaf, twig, and bacteria litter as measured by biomass dominance. This plant litter provides important cover for seedling protection as well as cover for a variety of arthropods, reptiles [4] and ...
The terms detritivore and decomposer are often used interchangeably, but they describe different organisms. Detritivores are usually arthropods and help in the process of remineralization. Detritivores perform the first stage of remineralization, by fragmenting the dead plant matter, allowing decomposers to perform the second stage of ...
Starfish have no distinct excretory organs; waste ammonia is removed by diffusion through the tube feet and papulae. [22] The body fluid contains phagocytic cells called coelomocytes, which are also found within the hemal and water vascular systems. These cells engulf waste material, and eventually migrate to the tips of the papulae, where a ...
The off shore areas may be called the pelagic zone, the photic zone may be called the limnetic zone and the aphotic zone may be called the profundal zone. Inland from the littoral zone, one can also frequently identify a riparian zone which has plants still affected by the presence of the lake—this can include effects from windfalls, spring ...
The key nutrients determining eutrophication are nitrogen in coastal waters and phosphorus in lakes. Both are found in high concentrations in guano (seabird feces), which acts as a fertilizer for the surrounding ocean or an adjacent lake. Uric acid is the dominant nitrogen compound, and during its mineralization different nitrogen forms are ...
Lentic systems are diverse, ranging from a small, temporary rainwater pool a few inches deep to Lake Baikal, which has a maximum depth of 1642 m. [10] The general distinction between pools/ponds and lakes is vague, but Brown [9] states that ponds and pools have their entire bottom surfaces exposed to light, while lakes do not. In addition, some ...
A marine coastal ecosystem is a marine ecosystem which occurs where the land meets the ocean. Worldwide there is about 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent of the ocean surface area.
Water is the medium of the oceans, the medium which carries all the substances and elements involved in the marine biogeochemical cycles. Water as found in nature almost always includes dissolved substances, so water has been described as the "universal solvent" for its ability to dissolve so many substances.