Aquatic Biodiversity Reduction

1. Aquatic Biodiversity Reduction Selena Sudol

2. What is it? Marine Biodiversity is, plain and simple, the diversity of organisms in marine environments. It is the variety of life in genes, species and habitats. The reduction is caused by human impact from hunting, pollution, chemical release, and the release of animals into the wrong environment. It was found that overfishing is the greatest threat, followed by habitat loss and pollution.

3. MarineLife • There are about 230,000 species of marine plants and animals and about a few thousand species of bacteria and Achaea. The biodiversity of these species are essential to the functioning of our planet. • The marine animals create about 100 million tons of food for humans, as well as natural substances and ingredients for pharmaceuticals. • The interactions and relationships between the different species create the production and mineralization of organic material, the storage of carbon, and the buffering of climate. In addition, coral reefs and sand dunes also provide coastal protection. • The biodiversity of ocean life keep the food chain in check, influencing exotic species to grow and cultivate and allow species richness to cumulate. Observations and models show that species-poor areas of the marine biome are more vulnerable to invasion and attack; this is due to the availability of niches in the location. Without biodiversity in aquatic life, species populations cannot be maintained which continues to have a chain reaction.

4. Marine Biodiversity Reduction • Whales, seals, polar bears, and other marine mammals, all used to be hunted; the fur was used from the seals and bears as well as the blubber and fat. This violent act become a popular sport, until the mammals were considered endangered. The World Wildlife Fund has stepped in, enacting laws to declare the killings illegal. • Commercial whaling became extremely popular in the last century, creating destructive results in the whale species. The hunting was done for whale oil, which is no longer used today. Today, Japan still hunts whales, but their reasoning is very skeptical. The massive decrease in the whale population created a chain events: whales began targeting otters for food which then allowed the urchin population to flourish which then decimated the kelp population, and then exposed fish larvae that used the plant for protection. Just from killing one species, the entire surrounding species all became a part of it. • Fishing causes the loss of species within fish to the point that it is “no longer economically feasible” to fish for them. The practices of dragging and trawling ruin ocean bottom habitats, killing fish species as a result. There are three types of overfishing: recruit, ecosystem, and growth. Recruit overfishing is the depletion of fish that can no longer reproduce; the adult fish have already been captured and cannot replenish the population. Ecosystem overfishing is fishing of a certain species to complete wipe out the population; this forces the other ocean species to resort to alter their habitats and diets. Lastly, growth overfishing is the harvesting of fish at a smaller size than its normal production rate. This causes a less amount of fish to replenish the population. • Pollution of the oceans is caused from oil, fertilizers, garbage, sewage, and toxic chemicals. Fertilizers causes eutrophication, which is the flourishing of algal blooms that deplete the water’s dissolved oxygen and suffocate marine life. This process causes dead zones, found already in the Gulf of Mexico and the Baltic Sea. This leads to problems in fish including decreased size of reproductive organs, and low egg and sperm count, leaving to eventual diminishment.

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXXzvGJCVAc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bNKHb1b0p8&feature=player_embedded

6. What can we do?! • One easy step to assist in maintaining marine biodiversity is throwing your trash at the beach, IN THE TRASH! Or, if you see some trash, just pick it up and put it in the garbage. • Scientifically, marine biologists are establishing large marine protected areas where nature can accomplish its goal in maintaining biodiversity within the intrusion of humans • Reducing overfishing through sustainable fishing methods and sustainable seafood choices. • Halting practices that are threatening to our ocean environment by enacting laws protecting the ecosystems and punishing those who attempt to destroy it. • 100 ways to make a difference. • http://marinebio.org/oceans/conservation/local.asp