marine ecosystems
Underwater living communities
Marine ecosystems are the interconnected communities of organisms and their physical environments in ocean and coastal waters.
These range from shallow tide pools and coral reefs to open ocean and deep-sea vents.
Overfishing threatens marine ecosystems worldwide.
The term encompasses both the living components—fish, plankton, kelp—and the chemical and physical conditions that sustain them.
- coral reefsCalcium carbonate marine structures
- estuariesRiver-sea meeting points
- mangrovesSalt-water coastal trees
- overfishingUnsustainable marine harvest
- echinodermsSpiny-skinned marine invertebrates
plankton · ocean acidification · sea level rise · hydrothermal vents · carbon sequestration · kelp forests · tide pools · tidal flats · benthic communities · endemic species · pollution · food webs · fish stocks · seagrass beds · crustaceans · whales · ocean currents · dolphins
- ecosystemsrainforest, forest, desert, jungle, ocean
- aquatic sciencelimnology, ichthyology, oceanography, aquatic ecosystems, ocean life
- Earth systemsbiosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, geosphere
- marine biologysea creatures, ocean life, sea life, plankton, phytoplankton
- ocean scienceoceanography, ocean chemistry, oceanic exploration, ocean acidification, ocean currents
- coastal ecosystemscoastal habitat, coastal habitats, coastal lagoon, coastal lagoons, tidal flats