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The official wording of the goal is to "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development". [1] Marine resources include: biological diversity (marine biodiversity) ecosystem services from marine ecosystems, such as marine coastal ecosystems and coral reefs; fish and seafood; minerals (for example ...
In addition to providing many benefits to the natural world, marine ecosystems also provide social, economic, and biological ecosystem services to humans. Pelagic marine systems regulate the global climate, contribute to the water cycle, maintain biodiversity, provide food and energy resources, and create opportunities for recreation and ...
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.
Recent studies now indicate that the SML covers the ocean to a significant extent, and evidence shows that it is an aggregate-enriched biofilm environment with distinct microbial communities. Because of its unique position at the air-sea interface, the SML is central to a range of global biogeochemical and climate-related processes.
If there is no defined long-term goal for conservation and ecological recovery and extraction of marine resources occurs, a region is not considered a marine protected area. [2] As of June 2019 there are 14,830 marine protected areas with a total area of 27,495,595 km 2 (10,616,109 sq mi) representing 7.59% of the ocean. [3]
The following is a list of marine ecoregions, as defined by the WWF and The Nature Conservancy. The WWF/Nature Conservancy scheme groups the individual ecoregions into 12 marine realms, which represent the broad latitudinal divisions of polar, temperate, and tropical seas, with subdivisions based on ocean basins.
Today, marine species range in size from the microscopic phytoplankton, which can be as small as 0.02–micrometres; to huge cetaceans like the blue whale, which can reach 33 m (108 ft) in length. [5] [6] Marine microorganisms have been variously estimated as constituting about 70% [7] or about 90% [8] [1] of the total marine biomass.
Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is informed by the study of marine plants and animal resources and ecosystem functions and is driven by ...