Aquatic Ecosystems

     The health of the aquatic ecosystems is not good. One-third of the rebuilding coral is going extinct. The dying coral has an effect on the food chains and food webs. This in turn has an effect on the predation-prey relationship in this ecosystem. The small fish or herbivores eat the bacteria that grows around the coral, they are eaten by bigger fish or omnivores, which are eaten by even bigger fish such as sharks or carnivores. The sharks have a predation relationship with the fish. Only 10% of the predation fish, such as sharks and swordfish survive. The coral is dying because of global warming. Global warming is caused by the greenhouse effect. The gases are produced from our cars and other things causing the atmosphere to weaken and let more sunlight and heat energy in. This causes the climate to rise which makes the oceans warmer and causes the coral to die.

     Sylvia Earle is trying to protect more of the oceans as only 1% of our oceans are currently protected. It was thought that the oceans were so large that they could regenerate no matter how much we took out of them but now it is known that the oceans need our help to protect them. I don't eat fish but I do enjoy swimming and just watching the ocean. I may not eat fish but many other people do which is why there are even fewer fish for the sharks to eat. This human activity of over fishing is a density-independent limiting factor. This limiting factor causes the growth of the fish population to decrease. Humans can have a destructive role in the biosphere when we use our resources up and damage other organisms because we think our needs are more important then theirs. Some humans take the world for granted and soon we may not have any forests or fish. Some humans try to prevent this, other just don't care. I think it is important for kids to learn about the oceans and biomes so we can help protect the world we live in.