Besides being adorable, these critters play an important
role in our ocean ecosystems by providing habitat for others, helping balance the food chain, and facilitating nutrient cycling.
While the role that living whales
play in ocean ecosystems is important, their role in death is also significant, especially in terms of carbon storage.
«Major shifts in fish populations will create a host of
changes in ocean ecosystems likely resulting in species loss and problems for the people who now catch them,» Pauly told IPS.
New research investigates how jellyfishes are succeeding fishes as dominant players in ocean ecosystems
«Acidification is changing the chemistry of the oceans at a scale and magnitude greater than thought to occur on Earth for many millions of years and is expected to cause changes in the growth and survival of a wide variety of marine organisms, potentially leading to massive
shifts in ocean ecosystems,» Barry told the Senate Commerce Committee's Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee on Thursday.
«Finding Synechococcus cells capable of dynamically changing their pigment content in accordance with the ambient light color —
abundant in ocean ecosystems, making them planktonic «chameleons» — gives us a much deeper understanding of those processes essential to keep the ocean «engine» running.
This would then lead to large, unpredictable changes
in ocean ecosystem structure and productivity, on top of other large unpredictable changes to be expected from ocean acidification, the other great oceanic consequence of high atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from fossil fuel burning.
Using such an approach, ZSD observations could be used to explore
changes in ocean ecosystems to support fisheries and to anticipate critical transitions in fish productivity.
Abstract: Diverse and abundant, marine invertebrates have essential roles
in ocean ecosystems and provide vital food and export resources for millions of people around the world through small - scale artisanal to large - scale commercial fisheries.
They also hope to contribute to the understanding of these creatures» role
in the ocean ecosystem.