in this ppt i have covered some information about plankton, nekton, physico chemical parameters of water, benthos, segrass, corals mangroves, etc.

1. Marine and coastal ecosystems.
Presentedby- Lavkush
M.F.Sc 1st year
Collegeof Fisheries, Dholi.
(RPCAU,PUSA, BIHAR)

2. contents
• overview
• physico-chemical environment
• ecological notions
• plankton
• benthos
• mangroves
• sea grasses and corals

3. WHAT IS ECOSYSTEM?
• A system that includes all
living organisms (biotic
factors) in an area as well
as its physical environment
(abiotic factors) interacting
with each other and
functioning together as a
unit.
• An ecosystem is generally
made up of plants, animals,
micro-organisms, soil,
water and the local
atmosphere interacting with
each other.

4. MARINE ECOSYSTEM
• Marine ecosystem is the largest
among the earth’s aquatic eco-
system.
• 71% of earths surface is covered
by water and oceans occupy 97%
of water on earth.
• Marine ecosystem has a wide
habitat and rich diversity of
species.

5.  Ocean is called as the “life
blood of the earth”.
 70% of the oxygen human
consumes comes from the
marine plants in the ocean.
 Oceans are responsible for
removing the CO2 from
atmosphere and producing O2
supporting earth life.
 According to NOAA only about
5% of the ocean is explored,
95% of the ocean is completely
unexplored.
 About 2/3rd of the ocean
species are yet to be discovered.

8. BASIC NEEDS OF AN ECOSYSTEM
 CO2
 O2
 Sunlight
 Nutrients-food and minerals

9. Physical properties
1. Temperature -
• Temperature is the most important physical factor to affecting
the distribution of marine life in the ocean.
• Temperature control the rate at which organism metabolic rate
or breakdown to food item into nutrient that they can use.
• Some marine life have thick layer of fat to insulate their
bodies.
• Ocean surface temperature generally range from (0-30°C) be
cause the salt lower the freezing point of free water which is
0°C ocean water at freeze about -1.1°C.

10. Cont…
2. Density-
• Variation in density or mass per unit volume(gm/cm3) of the
ocean are a function of temperature and salinity.
• Oceanic water with higher salinity are more dense than fresh
water with lower salinity because salt ion are heavier than
water molecules.
• The density of seawater ranges from about 1.02g/cm3 to
1.03g/cm3 depending on its salinity and temperature.
• An another words a liter of water with salinity of 36ppt weight
more than a liter of water with salinity of 32ppt.
• Oceanic water with higher salinity and cooler temp. have the
greatest salinity.

11. Cont..
3. Light absorption-
• Photosynthetic organisms use light to make sugars.
• Water absorb light, which gives rise to another physical
property of ocean- they are dark.
• In general, light penetrates only the upper 100m of seawater.
• Red light penetrates less than blue light.
• Red light filters out first and blue light goes to furthest. Red
animals are essentially invisible in deep waters.
• The photic zone is the part of the water column penetrated by
sunlight.
• The aphotic zone is the part of the water column below light
penetration and permanently dark.

12. Cont..
4. Buoyancy-
• Buoyancy to define ability to remain at a float in a liquid
because is salt water is more dense than freshwater.
• Saltwater provide better buoyancy to an object floating on the
surface that the freshwater.
5. Nutrient uptake –
• Limiting nutrient – nitrate and phosphate
• For growth and survival for plants.

13. 6. Inorganic nutrients
• Inorganic source of N, P, S and other atoms required for
phytoplankton growth.
• Photosynthesis and respiration contributes in nutrient
distribution.
• Silica is also important for all the siliceous organisms
(diatoms, siliceous sponges).
• Nitrogen is necessary to make proteins.
• P is necessary to make new cells and also genetic material,
DNA, RNA.

14. Chemical properties of sea water
1. Salinity –
• Salinity is a measure of the amount of dissolved salts in
seawater that is expressed as grams of salts per kilogram of
water.
• Salinity is measure in ppt .
• The total salt content of seawater is, on average, 35ppt, or
3.5%.
• The salinity in red sea on of the saltiest sea in the world (40-42
ppt).
• The marine organisms use ion from seawater to build their
shells, bones, and teeth.

15. 2. Dissolve gases-
• The properties of gases in atmosphere is not the same as their
proportion in seawater.
• There is less nitrogen(62.6%) in the ocean than in the
atmosphere(78.08).
• Much more oxygen(34.3%) and even more carbon-di
oxide(1.4%).
• All this carbon di- oxide in the oceans keeps carbon di- oxide
from being in the atmosphere and causing global warming.
• Carbon di-oxide is important because it is needed by plants so
they can photosynthesized.
• Animals in this region and lower have large gills, modified
haemoglobin or are inactive.

16. 3. Dissolve oxygen-
• Oxygen is important because animals need it for respiration.
• Seawater atmosphere exchange at air water interface only.
• Biological process that affect oxygen concentration;
photosynthesis and respiration.

17. SIGNIFICANCE OF PHYSICO- CHEMICAL
PARAMETERS ON ECOSYSTEM
 Physico-chemical parameters influence the species diversity,
pattern of diversity, spawning, breeding and reproductive
activities.
 Improper balance of these parameters lead to reproductive
failures of organisms and poor species diversity.
 A balanced physical environment is needed for the
conservation of our rich marine ecosystem.

18. Ecological notions
Ecology-
• Ecology is the study of interactions among organism or group
of organisms with their environment.
• The environment consists of both biotic components (living
organisms) and abiotic components (non – living organisms).
or Ecology is the study of ecosystems.

19. Classification of ecology
1. Physiological ecology: It focus on how the living organisms
react/adapts to the abiotic and biotic factors in their environment.
2. Behavioral ecology: Examines the role of behaviour in
enabling an animal to adopt to its environment.
3. Community ecology: Focus on the interaction between
species within an ecological community.
4. Ecosystem ecology: The study of how energy and matter
flows through the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems.
5. Global ecology: How energy interacts in the entire web life
on earth.

20. A food chain is linear
sequence showing which
organisms consume which other
organisms, making a series of
trophic level.
• In a typical marine food chain
; dinoflagellates convert energy
from sunlight into food through
photosynthesis and store it in
their tissues.
•Copepods feed on
dinoflagellates . Small fish feed
on copepods and the bigger fish
feed on the small fish.

21. Marine food web describe the linkage between all living organisms
found in the marine environment.

22. Plankton
• The term plankton is derived from the Greek planktos,
meaning wandering or drifting.
• Plankton are the numerous, primarily microscopic inhabitants
of the pelagic environment.
• They are critical components of food chains in all
marine environments because they provide nutrition for the
nekton (e.g., crustaceans, fish, and squid) and benthos (e.g.,
sea squirts and sponges).
• Plankton population suddenly swells, it is called a “bloom.”

23. Phytoplankton
• Plants or plantlike protists. Phytoplankton carry out
photosynthesis and are the producers of the marine
community.
• The unicellular green algae Chlorella has been used
particularly in this connection.
• The carbon dioxide released during respiration, while the
oxygen liberated during this process would support human
respiration.
• Phytoplankton supply oxygen via photosynthesis and serve
as the first step in the marine food chain .

24. Phytopanktons
cyanobacteria diatom dinoflagellate green algae coccolithophore

25. Zooplankton
• Animals or animal-like
protists; and microbes
such as bacteria.
Zooplankton are the
heterotrophic consumers.
• The jellylike plankton are
numerous and predatory,
secure their prey with
stinging cells
(nematocysts) or sticky
cells (colloblasts of comb
jellies).

26. • Zooplankton are classified by size and/or by developmental
stage.
 Picoplankton that measure less than 2 micrometers,
 Nanoplankton measure between 2-20 micrometers,
 Microplankton measure between 20-200 micrometers,
 Mesoplankton measure between 0.2-20 millimeters,
 Macroplankton measure between 20-200 millimeters,
 And the megaplankton, which measure over 200 millimeters
(almost 8 inches).

27. • Macroplankton can be collected with a coarse net, and
morphological details of individual organisms are easily
discernible. These forms, 1 mm (0.04 inch) or more in length,
ordinarily do not include phytoplankton.
• Microplankton (also called net plankton) is composed of
organisms between 0.05 and 1 mm (0.002 and 0.04 inch) in
size and is a mixture of phytoplankton and zooplankton. The
lower limit of its size range is fixed by the aperture of the
finest cloth used for plankton nets.
• Nanoplankton (dwarf plankton) passes through all nets and
consists of forms of a size less than 0.05 mm. Phytoplanktonic
organisms dominate the nanoplankton

29. Benthos
• Organisms are abundant in surface sediments of
the continental shelf and in deeper waters, with a
great diversity found in or on sediments.
• In shallow waters, beds of Seagrass provide a rich habitat for
polychaete worms, crustaceans (e.g., amphipods), and fishes.
• The transition layer between oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor
layers is called the redox discontinuity layer and appears as a
gray layer above the black anaerobic layers.
• The consequent “irrigation” of burrow systems can create
oxygen and nutrient fluxes that stimulate the production of
benthic producers (e.g., diatoms).

30. Classification of benthos
• The macrobenthos are those organisms larger than 1 mm. It
includes polychaete worms and sponges.
• Organisms between 0.1 and 1 mm constitute the meiobenthos,
include foraminiferans, turbellarians, and polychaetes.
• The microbenthos are those organisms smaller than 1 mm; they
include diatoms, bacteria, and ciliates.
• Those that eat organic material in sediments are called deposit
feeders (e.g., holothurians, echinoids, gastropods), those that feed on
the plankton above are the suspension feeders (e.g., bivalves,
ophiuroids, crinoids), and those that consume other fauna in the
benthic assemblage are predators (e.g., starfish, gastropods).

31. • The fastest-growing plant—adding as much
as 1 metre per day to its length—is the giant
kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, which is found
on subtidal rocky reefs. These plants, which
may exceed 30 metres in length,
characterize benthic habitats on many
temperate reefs.
• Barnacles are common sessile animals in the
intertidal.
• In the subtidal regions, sponges, ascidians,
urchins, and anemones are particularly
common where light levels drop and current
speeds are high.

33. Links between the pelagic environments and
the benthos
• Pelagic plankton are an important source of food for animals on soft
or rocky bottoms, anemones and barnacles filter living and dead
particles from the surrounding water while detritus feeders graze on
the accumulation of particulate material raining from the water
column above.
• The molts of crustaceans, plankton feces, dead plankton, and marine
snow all contribute to this rain of fallout from the pelagic
environment to the ocean bottom.
• This fallout can be so intense in certain weather patterns—such as
the El Niño condition—that benthic animals on soft bottoms are
smothered and die.

34. Organisms of the deep-sea vents
• A diversity of deep-sea organisms including mussels, large
bivalve, clams, and Vestimentiferan worms are supported
by bacteria that oxidize sulfur (sulfide) and derive chemical
energy from the reaction.
• These organisms are referred to as chemoautotrophic, or
chemosynthetic, as opposed to photosynthetic, organisms.

35. Mangroves
• Mangroves or ‘tidal forests’ noted
for their salt-tolerant vegetation
(halophytes).
• They have a specialized salt
filtration system that can filter out
the excess salt from the waters.
• Mangrove forests occupy 2,00,000
square km of area across 30
tropical countries.
• They are found in tropical and sub-
tropical tidal areas like marine
coastlines and estuaries.

36. Mangroves
• Over 100 species of mangrove plants. These are home to
around 174 species of marine mega fauna. Species like
oysters, shrimps, sponges, barnacles, etc. are found here.
• These plants are capable of surviving in saline
conditions with tidal water flows and muddy soil that is
deficient in oxygen.
• Upwards growing roots that enables them to absorb oxygen.
These are called pneumatophores.

37. Where are mangrove ecosystem in India?

38. Mangrove ecosystem in INDIA
ZSI june,2015

39.  India has about 4,921 square kms of mangrove forests. This is over 3% of the
world total.
The largest mangrove forest in India is the Sundarbans (meaning ‘beautiful
forest’) in the Gangetic Delta (India and Bangladesh)
The 2nd largest mangrove ecosystem in India is the Bhitarkanika located
on Odisha coast.
The Godavari- Krishna mangrove forests are located on the east coast
of Andhra Pradesh.
The Pichavaram mangroves are in Tamil Nadu.
Mangrove forests are also found near Mumbai city on the western coast.
Also found on the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Eg: the Baratang Island mangroves.

40. Why are they important?
• Mangroves are structurally complex with diversified
habitat, niches for a large variety of organisms.
• Breeding and feeding grounds and also as nurseries for a
variety of commercially important marine organisms like
fishes and crustaceans.
• NASA has termed them ‘the best carbon scrubbers’ because
of their role as a significant carbon sink. They store more
carbon dioxide than most of the other forest types.

41. Cont....
• Filter out heavy metals from the mud and deposit them as rich
sediments.
• The mangroves on the eastern coast helped mitigate the impact
of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
• The Sundarbans serve as a flood barrier in West Bengal.
They protect the city of Kolkata from the frequent cyclones–
the most recent of which was the Cyclone Amphan.
• They have important ecological functions like recycling
nutrients, etc

42. Mangrove; an important blue
carbon ecosystem

45. Types of mangroves
1. Red Mangroves:
• Growing along the edge of the
shoreline.
• It is easily distinguished from
other species by tangled,
reddish prop roots.
Ex-Rhizophora mangle

46. 2. Black Mangroves:
• Mangroves is characterized
by long horizontal roots and
root-like projections known
as pneumatophores.
Ex- Avicennia germinans

47. 3. White mangroves:
• The white mangrove has no
visible aerial roots, unlike the
black and the red mangrove
with prop roots.
Ex- Laguncularia racemosa

48. 4. Buttonwood Mangroves:
• The name buttonwood
comes from the button-like
appearance of the dense
flower heads that grow in
branched clusters, forming
cone-like fruit.
Ex-Conocarpus erectus

49. What happened to the Sundarbans during the
Cyclone Amphan?
• When Cyclone Amphan struck West Bengal in May 2020, its
effects were largely mitigated by the Sundarbans flanking its
coasts along the Bay of Bengal.
• However, the cyclone damaged over 28% of the Sundarbans.
About 1,200 square kilometres of these forests suffered
damages.
• The mangrove trees’ leaves turned yellow and red– especially
in the Avicenia species. This has been attributed to root
damage and high salinity. Mangroves require a mix
of freshwater and saline water to grow. Very high
salinity can damage even these trees.

50. Cont......
• Also, the saline water ingress affected agricultural activity
in the adjoining area.
• West Bengal government announced plans to plant 50 million
mangrove trees to compensate for the loss due to the cyclone
( government identifying lands for this project and plantations
is to start next October).
• Experts say that a single hectare can hold 5,000 mangrove
trees at the most. In that case, the proposed 50 million trees
would require a 100 square Km. area.

52. What are the threats to the mangroves?
• Anthropogenic activities are
a major threat to the
mangroves Urbanisation,
Industrialisation and the
accompanying discharge of
industrial effluents,
domestic sewage and
pesticide residues from
agricultural lands threaten
these fragile ecosystems.

53. CONSERVATION
• The identification and implementation of conservation
priorities for mangroves on the basis of comprehensive
species-specific information is required to safeguard this
vulnerable ecosystem.
• Designation of critical habitat, no take zones, or marine
protected areas are the initial steps along with the protection of
species specific habitat, management of anthropogenic
pressure, establishment of green belt and buffer zone,
restoration of degraded species, and mapping of mangrove
cover to conserve the mangrove in a sustainable manner.

54. Seagrass ecosystems
• Seagrasses are commonly known as the flowering group of
plants.
• In temperate and tropical areas, the lowest tide levels of the
estuaries, lagoons and sheltered coastal areas are habitats for
aquatic plants collectively called seagrasses.
• The ecological contribution of this ecosystem towards niche
maintenance is remarkable in coastal waters situated at the
continental shelf region.
• It increases the complexity of life and provides a healthy place
to live for a wide range of species.

55. Cont…..
• It provides the basic strata for all the dwelling organisms as a
nursery ground for reproduction, pre and post larval settlement
as well as protection for those animals against oceanic currents
and sedimentation.
• A total of 1059 species of animals belonging to 18 groups
were reported from the seagrass ecosystems in the Indian seas
which harbor 5.18 % of India’s marine fauna.
• A total of 14 species of seagrasses are reported in Indian
waters.

56. P Oppili | TNN | December 2015
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/50361242.cms?utm_source=contentofinter
est&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

58. Corals
• Reef-building coral polyps (Scleractinia) are organisms of the
phylum Cnidaria that create a calcareous substrate upon which
a diverse array of organisms live.
• Approximately 700 species of corals are found in the Pacific
and Indian oceans and belong to genera such
as Porites, Acropora, and Montipora.
• Zoo-xanthellae are the photosynthetic, single-celled algae that
live symbiotically within the tissue of corals and help to build
the solid calcium carbonate matrix of the reef.

59. Corals
• Reef-building corals are found
only in waters warmer than 18°
C; along with high light intensity,
for the coral-algae complex to
secrete calcium carbonate.
• The Coral reefs in India are
mainly restricted to the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, Gulf of
Mannar, Gulf of Kutch, Palk
Strait and the Lakshadweep
islands. All of these reefs are
Fringing reefs, except
Lakshadweep.

60. Types of coral
1. Hermatypes- Hard corals that build reefs.
Build reefs by depositing hard calcareous material for their
skeletons, forming the stony framework of the reef.
Eg- Blue, Brain, Elegance, Elkhorn, Chalice, Pillar, Staghorn
2. Ahermatypes – Soft and hard corals that do not build
reefs.
Corals that do not contribute to coral reef development are
referred to as ahermatypic (non-reef-building)
Eg- Bamboo, Black, Organ pipe, Sea fans, Sea pens
Difference – Hard corals contain zooxantehellae (Microscopic
algae) within their tissue and soft coral do not.

61. Threats
• Coral reefs are under stress around the world.
• In particular, coral mining, agricultural and urban runoff, pollution
(organic and inorganic), overfishing, blast fishing, disease, are
localized threats to coral ecosystems.
• Broader threats are sea temperature rise, sea level rise and pH
changes from ocean acidification, all associated with greenhouse gas
emissions.
• In 1998, 16% of the world's reefs died as a result of increased water
temperature.
• Approximately 10% of the world's coral reefs are dead. About 60%
of the world's reefs are at risk due to human-related activities.

62. Cont.....
• The threat to reef health is particularly strong in Southeast
Asia, where 80% of reefs are endangered.
• Over 50% of the world's coral reefs may be destroyed by
2030; as a result, most nations protect them through
environmental laws.
• In the Caribbean and tropical Pacific, direct contact between
~40–70% of common seaweeds and coral causes bleaching
and death to the coral via transfer of lipid-soluble metabolites

63. Protection
• Marine Protected Areas, Biosphere reserves, marine parks,
national monuments world heritage status, fishery
management and habitat protection can protect reefs from
anthropogenic damage.
• Many governments now prohibit removal of coral from reefs,
and inform coastal residents about reef protection and ecology.
• While local action such as habitat restoration and herbivore
protection can reduce local damage, the longer-term threats of
acidification, temperature change and sea-level rise remain a
challenge.

64. Cont....
• Protecting networks of diverse and healthy reefs, not only
climate refugia, helps ensure the greatest chance of genetic
diversity, which is critical for coral to adapt to new climates.
• A variety of conservation methods applied across marine and
terrestrial threatened ecosystems makes coral adaption more
likely and effective.
• To eliminate destruction of corals in their indigenous regions,
projects have been started to grow corals in non-tropical
countries

65. Relation to humans
• Jewelry- Corals' many colors give it appeal for necklaces and other
jewelry. Intensely red coral is prized as a gemstone. Sometimes
called fire coral, it is not the same as fire coral. Red coral is very
rare because of overharvesting.
• In medicine, chemical compounds from corals can potentially be
used to treat cancer, AIDS, pain, and for other therapeutic uses.
Coral skeletons, e.g. Isididae are also used for bone grafting in
humans.
In general, it is inadvisable to give coral as gifts since they are
in decline from stressors like climate change, pollution, and
unsustainable fishing

66. • Shoreline protection- Healthy coral reefs absorb 97 percent
of a wave's energy, which buffers shorelines from currents,
waves, and storms, helping to prevent loss of life and property
damage. Coastlines protected by coral reefs are also more
stable in terms of erosion than those without.
• Local economies- Coastal communities near coral reefs rely
heavily on them. Worldwide, more than 500 million people
depend on coral reefs for food, income, coastal protection, and
more.
• The total economic value of coral reef services in the United
States - including fisheries, tourism, and coastal protection - is
more than $3.4 billion a year.

67. Cont....
• Coral aquaculture, also known as coral farming or coral
gardening, is the cultivation of corals for commercial
purposes or coral reef restoration.
• Aquaculture is showing promise as a tool for restoring coral
reefs, which are dying off around the world.
• The process protects young corals while they are most at risk
of dying. Small corals are propagated in nurseries and then
replanted on the reef.

69. Protection of coral reefs for sustainable
livelihoods and development
1. Don’t fish or boat near a coral reef.
2. Don’t litter on the beach or in the
ocean.
3. Snorkel and scuba dive with care.
4. Don’t purchase coral souvenirs.
5. Boycott damaging fishing methods.
6. Volunteer to support reef science.
7. Help organizations dedicated to
protecting coral reefs.
8. Tell others about coral reefs.
9. Reduce pollution in marine habitat.

70. Sourse:
Geography and
you(GY)
february 2020

71. Threats to coastal and marine
ecosystems
• NATURAL: Storms and wave energies may be seen as
typhoons, quakes, and tsunamis. These are natural catastrophic
events which may lead to the destruction of marine
biodiversity.
• ANTHROPOGENIC: Sedimentation from developmental
activities, Eutrophication from sewage and agriculture,
physical impact of maritime activities, dredging, destructive
fishing practices, pollution from industrial sources, climate
change, introduction of invasive species, UV- radiation,
carbonate mineral saturation, habitat alteration, unregulated
tourism, chemical stress, oil spills, anchoring and bacterial
effects.

72. Legislation
• WILDLIFE (PROTECTION) ACT, 1972: Provides protection to a wide
number of animals against collection.
• ENVIRONMENTAL (PROTECTION) ACT, 1986: Prohibits use of any
parts of selected marine faunal communities against construction and other
purposes.
• COASTAL REGULATION ZONE NOTIFICATION, 1991: Regulates
onshore development activities to protect coastal environments.
• CITES: Restricts the trade of threatened marine fauna in order to avoid
unsustainable utilization under Appendix II.
• UNCLOS, MARPOL, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants: Regulation of marine pollution.