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For comparison, the pelagic zone is the descriptive term for the ecological region above the benthos, including the water column up to the surface. At the other end of the spectrum, benthos of the deep ocean includes the bottom levels of the oceanic abyssal zone. [7]
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 ...
Benthos are highly sensitive to contamination, so their close proximity to high pollutant concentrations make these organisms ideal for studying water contamination. [21] Benthos can be used as bioindicators of water pollution through ecological population assessments or through analyzing biomarkers. In ecological population assessments, a ...
The diagram at the right shows a basic one-box model. The reservoir contains the amount of material M under consideration, as defined by chemical, physical or biological properties. The source Q is the flux of material into the reservoir, and the sink S is the flux of material out of the reservoir. The budget is the check and balance of the ...
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. The waste is not only 'waste' but also an important food source.
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.
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 demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. [1] The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of the larger profundal zone. [citation needed]