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The pelagic food web, showing the central involvement of marine microorganisms in how the ocean imports nutrients from and then exports them back to the atmosphere and ocean floor. A marine food web is a food web of marine life. At the base of the ocean food web are single-celled algae and other plant-like organisms known as phytoplankton.
Phytoplankton (/ ˌ f aɪ t oʊ ˈ p l æ ŋ k t ə n /) are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems.The name comes from the Greek words φυτόν (phyton), meaning 'plant', and πλαγκτός (planktos), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'.
Marine plants can be found in intertidal zones and shallow waters, such as seagrasses like eelgrass and turtle grass, Thalassia. These plants have adapted to the high salinity of the ocean environment. Light is only able to penetrate the top 200 metres (660 ft) so this is the only part of the sea where plants can grow. [77]
The ocean represents the largest continuous planetary ecosystem, hosting an enormous variety of organisms, which include microscopic biota such as unicellular eukaryotes (protists). Despite their small size, protists play key roles in marine biogeochemical cycles and harbour tremendous evolutionary diversity.
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.
Plants, along with other primary producers, produce the energy that other living beings consume, and the oxygen that they breathe. [3] It is thought that the first organisms on Earth were primary producers located on the ocean floor. [3] Autotrophs are fundamental to the food chains of all ecosystems in the world. They take energy from the ...
The best coastal plants are known for their color, texture and movement as they shift and ripple in a sea breeze. If you live by the sea you'll need a selection of the best coastal plants that are ...
Seagrasses evolved from terrestrial plants which recolonised the ocean 70 to 100 million years ago. The name seagrass stems from the many species with long and narrow leaves , which grow by rhizome extension and often spread across large " meadows " resembling grassland ; many species superficially resemble terrestrial grasses of the family ...