Ocean
acidification is a huge climatic disaster that is ongoing due to high levels of
CO2 in the atmosphere that then is absorbed into the ocean and reducing pH
levels of the ocean water, home to millions of marine organisms. This affects
all life within the water, changing their way of living by forcing them to
adapt to new living conditions, or to move to better, more suitable living
conditions.
Marine
food webs are changed greatly when organisms leave their habitats, traveling
possibly hundreds of miles away to new locations, and creating or finding a new
habitat that they find suitable to survive in, or becoming extinct due to the
inability to survive with the current living conditions. This would mean that
the other organisms in their ‘old’ food web, too, would have to adapt to the
less variety of foods available for their taking, making it difficult for them
to survive without adapting to the change. Also, they would be forced to adapt
to the lack of nutrients found within that organism that is no longer within
their locations.
One
example of an energy pyramid is the phytoplankton and seaweed, the
producers/autotrophs of the energy pyramid. The primary consumers or the
organisms that consume the phytoplankton and seaweed for their energy are the
zooplankton and the cockles. The organisms that consume these organisms, then,
are the juvenile stage of fish/jellyfish, small fish, crustaceans, and sea
stars. The fourth level of this energy pyramid of organisms is the second level
of carnivorous consumers, larger fish who consume the smaller fish and sea
stars. Squid would then consume the large fish, and albatross, dolphins, and
sharks are at the top of the pyramid, consuming the squids from the lower
level. If ocean acidification affected the water enough to require any of these
organisms to adapt, or to need to relocate and find a new habitat, then all the
levels would be affected because of this. If there were no levels of sea life
after the autotrophs, then there would be an abundant amount of them, and they
would fight for places and resources to produce with. And, if a middle level
was to be removed, the levels above would be forced to relocate to a location
that has organisms remaining that they are adapted to eating, or would have to
change their diet and readapt themselves to eating the lower level organisms.
Coral
reefs are living organisms that provide shelter to fish in the sea. They are
homes to thousands of different fish types, and are deeply affected by ocean
acidification. They are found to be one of the most important ecosystems on the
Earth. So what would happen if they were to be killed due to the high amounts
of changes in the pH levels of the ocean water? They could become an unsuitable
habitat for the fish that take shelter, possibly causing these fish to go
extinct. Or even the coral reefs themselves, going extinct as well. These coral
reef habitats are critical to many species of fishes’ lives. Researchers find
ocean acidification to be a big factor in the degradation and collapse of many
of these ecosystems and habitats all over the world.
Ocean
acidification is a real problem, affecting marine ecosystems and marine food
webs all around the world. It can completely change an ecosystem and food web,
or more drastically, over time, destroy it. Many species of organisms could go
extinct and could change the living styles of many other organisms.
Resources and Citations
"Altered
Food Webs." Centerforoceansolutions.org. Center for Ocean Solutions, n.d.
Web. 10 Nov. 2012. http://centerforoceansolutions.org/climate/impacts/cumulative-impacts/altered-food-webs/
.
Moyer,
Ryan P. "Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Growth: Historical
Perspectives from Core-Based Studies." Impacts of Ocean Acidification on
Coral Growth: Historical Perspectives from Core-Based Studies. USGS Science for
a Changing World, Nov. 2009. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2009/11/
.
"Ocean
Acidification." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Sept. 2012. Web. 10
Nov. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification
.
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