Edwin Molusi
202201945
NZOO62
Practical 3
MARINE DIVERSITY AND FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO ITS SUSTAINABILITY
Introduction
A variation of life forms is observed due to the occurrence of evolution. The evolution of life
forms has led to the vast diversity of marine life and ecosystems. Biodiversity consists of
various aspects, including the analysis and evaluation of the well-being and state of different
sets of living beings, ranging from genetic diversity to species, populations, communities, and
ecosystems (Cochrane, 2016). A comprehensive understanding of biodiversity must also
consider how organisms interact and function across all levels, starting from individuals and
extending to entire ecosystems, while considering changes resulting from both natural and
human inflicted environmental factors (Cochrane, 2016). Understanding the significant shifts
in the distribution of marine life and determining how they affect the marine biodiversity is vital
(Canonico,2019). This is essential for grasping the interconnectedness of biological and
physical aspects within coastal and open ocean ecosystems (Canonico,2019). This paper will
focus on species diversity of marine environments, the ecosystem diversity, and adaptations
of marine species.
Contribution of Species Diversity
There is a great abundance of species within the ocean that contributes to the biodiversity of
marine life. The Phylum Chordata contributes to the diversity of the sea. It includes three sub-
phyla: Urochordata, cephalochordate and vertebrate. The classes of interest that belong to
the sub-phyla vertebrata are Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish), Reptilia (reptiles) and
Mammalia (mammals) (Satoh & Rokhsar, 2014). Chondrichthyes include sharks and batoids.
Both these animals belong to the same class but have different structures. They are different
in size, gills, and fin development (Satoh & Rokhsar, 2014). These classes provide for a large
variety of species found in the marine environment. The ecotypes for birds are offshore
surface-feeding birds, offshore pelagic-feeding birds, inshore surface-feeding, inshore
pelagic-feeding birds, and intertidal benthic-feeding birds (Cochrane, 2016). Turtles are one
of the famous ecotypes of reptiles found in the sea (Cochrane, 2016). Fish also have the
following ecotypes: Pelagic fish, demersal fish, elasmobranchs, deep sea fish,
Coastal/anadromous fish, and ice-associated fish (Cochrane, 2016). These ecotypes of the
different animal species found in the marine environment are also distinguished by their
feeding strategies and environmental conditions.
Ecosystems within marine environments
Various number of ecosystems are found in the aquatic environment. Different species live
and are successful within the ecosystems, provided that the environment is at equilibrium and
beneficial to all species (Paulus, 2021). Marine ecosystems contribute to the vast biodiversity
of marine life. The aquatic environment has several hotspot ecosystems that provide high
biodiversity within the ocean. Two of these ecosystems are mangrove and coral reefs (Paulus,
2021). The Deep-sea is also one of the less explored ecosystems yet provides high
biodiversity with over two million species (Paulus, 2021). Deep-sea ecosystem requires
species that are specifically adapted to survive within the harsh conditions. These conditions
include very low temperatures, low visibility (darkness) and high pressure (Paulus, 2021).
These conditions can affect various functionalities of a fish. Low visibility will negatively affect
their foraging strategies, high pressures limit ordinary fish from exploring low depths and lastly
low temperatures may not be ideal for reproduction of most of the marine life. Every species
needs to be specifically adapted to the environmental conditions of its respective ecosystem
in order to thrive (Gamfeldt,2015).
Adaptations to marine diversity.
To ensure the exploitation of new opportunities created by environmental factors and survival
it is fundamental that adaptation takes place. Key factors that drive adaptations of marine life
consists of genetic variations and environmental pressures (Canonico,2019). Different parts
of marine ecosystems are changing due to pressures from humans and climate change
(Canonico,2019). Through variations of genetic developments such as jaws, cartilage and
bone structures in aquatic animals enhanced various species to move to better suited
environments and improved on key adaptations. Environmental factors such climate changes,
salt levels in water. Nine years ago, multiple marine heatwaves occurred for a duration of four
years. These harsh environment conditions affected the marine life by raising the temperature
of the water and disturbing the balance (Lonhart, et al., 2019) and resulted in species migrating
to different regions and new species occupied the environment.
The biodiversity of marine life is driven by all these various factors. Species variations and
their natural adaptations in response to environmental conditions found in ecosystems allow
are what drives and sustains marine life biodiversity. Marine life will continue to adapt and
evolve to better suit environmental conditions.
References
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