Marine Biodiversity

IDMP Assignment

Biodiversity is an all-inclusive term to describe the total variation among living organisms of our planet. In its simplest form, biodiversity or biological diversity is therefore 'Life on Earth' and biodiversity because 32 out of the 33 described animal phyla are represented in there.
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includes marine biodiversity 'Life in the Seas and Oceans.` The marine environment has a very high

Biodiversity includes four main components:

Genetic diversity refers to the genetic variation that occurs among members of the same species. Species diversity (taxonomic diversity) refers to the variety of species or other taxonomic groups
in an ecosystem.

Ecosystem diversity refers to the variety of biological communities found on earth. With

ecosystem diversity we generally consider its two levels, that is, communities and ecosystems.

Functional diversity refers to the variety of biological processes, functions or characteristics of a

particular ecosystem.

Genetic, species and ecosystem diversity are also often grouped as structural diversity. An example of species diversity is the number of all fish species in the North Sea; genetic diversity indicates for instance the differences in genes between different populations of the same fish species and ecosystem diversity is for instance the number of communities living in different habitats/ecosystems (rocky shores, sandy beaches, soft subtidal, ).

An example of functional diversity is the number of filter feeders in an ecosystem compared to the number of grazers. Functional diversity is thought to be one of the main factors determining the long-term stability of an ecosystem and its ability to recover from major disturbances.

Biodiversity encompasses many levels of organization including genes, species, habitats,

communities and ecosystems. Although species diversity is the most commonly used measure of taxonomic diversity (or diversity between types of organisms), other measures of taxonomic

diversity exist, the most common of which is phyletic diversity. Phyletic diversity is the variation in the working body plans (phyla) of organisms. An example of a phylum is the Arthropoda, which includes organisms such as crabs, lobsters, shrimp as marine animals and insects and spiders as terrestrial organisms.

Why is marine biodiversity important?

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health of the oceans and humans. What is obvious is that there are specific species and functional groups that play critical roles in important ecosystem processes, and the loss of these species may have significant influences on the whole ecosystem.
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Marine organisms contribute to many critical processes that have direct and indirect effects on the

contribute to global processes. It has been estimated that half the primary production on earth is attributable to marine species. Without primary producers in surface waters, the oceans would the primary producers would quickly become nutrient limited.
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Primary and secondary production are important mechanisms by which marine communities

quickly run out of food, but without planktonic and benthic organisms to facilitate nutrient cycling,

gas and climate regulation, .Looking at ecosystems in terms of the goods and services they sense.

The marine ecosystem provide us a lot of goods and services like food provision, nutrient cycling,

provide, allows us to realize their full value and our dependency on those systems in the broadest

Facts and figures on marine biodiversity

The ocean constitutes over 90% of the habitable space on the planet.

An estimated 50-80% of all life on earth is found under the ocean surface. stand on the brink of extinction.

By the year 2100, without significant changes, more than half of the worlds marine species may Today 60% of the worlds major marine ecosystems that underpin livelihoods have been degraded or are being used unsustainably. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are essential to conserve the biodiversity of the oceans and to area one third of all marine protected areas.

maintain productivity, especially of fish stocks. World Heritage marine sites represent in surface

Approximately 12% of the land area is protected, compared to roughly 1% of the world ocean and adjacent seas. Tiny phytoplancton provide 50% of the oxygen on earth and form the basis of the ocean food chain up to fish and marine mammals, and ultimately human consumption. Ocean acidification may threaten plankton, which is key to the survival of larger fish.

If the concentration of atmospheric CO2 continues to increase at the current rate, the ocean will become corrosive to the shells of many marine organisms by the end of this century. How or if marine organisms may adapt is not known.

Ocean acidification may render most regions of the ocean inhospitable to coral reefs, affecting tourism, food security, shoreline protection, and biodiversity. reefs, for example, there can be 1,000 species per m. Coral reefs are the nurseries of the oceans, they are biodiversity hot spots. On some tropical coral Today, fisheries provide over 15 percent of the dietary intake of animal protein. to 13 percent of global fisheries have collapsed.

Commercial overexploitation of the worlds fish stocks is so severe that it has been estimated that up Agricultural practices, coastal tourism, port and harbour developments, damming of rivers, urban development and construction, mining, fisheries, aquaculture, and manufacturing, among others, are all sources of marine pollution threatening coastal and marine habitats.

Excessive nutrients from sewage outfalls and agricultural runoff have contributed to the number of low oxygen (hypoxic) areas known as dead zones, where most marine life cannot survive, resulting in the collapse of some ecosystems.

There are now close to 500 dead zones covering more than 245,000 km globally, equivalent to the surface of the United Kingdom. Coastal systems such as such as mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows have the ability to absorb, or sequester, carbon at rates up to 50 times those of the same area of tropical forest. forests. Total carbon deposits in these coastal systems may be up to five times the carbon stored in tropical Between 1980 and 2005, 35,000 square kilometers of mangroves were removed globally. mangroves and coral reefs are estimated to have been destroyed.

Between 30 and 35 percent of the global extent of critical marine habitats such as seagrasses, Technological change and the emergence of new economic opportunities such as deep sea mining, more intensive fishing, and deeper oil and gas drilling increase risks to areas that historically were not under threat.

Further research and collective action is needed to mitigate the underlying causes of the loss of biodiversity. The Blueprint for ocean and coastal sustainability includes proposals to address these issues.

References
1. http://www.marbef.org 2. http://www.epa.gov/eerd/GeneticDiversityIndicators.htm 3. Thorne-Miller Boyce(1999), The living ocean: understanding and protecting marine biodiversity. United States of America. 213p 4. Groom, M.J., Meffe, G.K., Carroll, C.R. and contributors, 2005. Principles of Conservation Biology, Third Edition, Sinauer Associates. 5.0 5.1 5. Steele, J.H. et al. (Ed.) (2001), Encyclopedia of ocean sciences. Academic Press: San Diego, p756 vol. 2 D-H
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