Zoology · Ch 11 — Organisms and Population
Aquatic Biomes
Aquatic Biomes
Aquatic biomes cover roughly seventy-one percent of the entire biosphere and are home to millions of aquatic organisms, including the vast diversity of fish species; the climate of coastal zones is itself strongly shaped by the adjoining aquatic biome. The chapter recognises three broad categories of aquatic biome, distinguished chiefly by salinity and water source: freshwater biomes, comprising lakes, ponds and rivers; brackish water biomes, comprising estuaries and wetlands where fresh and salt water mix; and marine biomes, which include coral reefs, the open pelagic zone of the ocean, and the deep abyssal zone. Each of these aquatic environments supports its own characteris …
What this figure shows. An illustrated set of five representative aquatic environments arranged together: the open Ocean, Coral reefs, Mangroves, Rivers and Lakes. Each is shown as its own distinct habitat type with characteristic depth, salinity and vegetation cues (coral reefs shown as shallow, structurally complex reef formations; mangroves shown as coastal trees rooted in brackish tidal water; rivers and lakes shown as flowing versus standing freshwater bodies) to convey the range of aquatic biomes that together make up roughly sev …