What is an ocean ecosystem?

Ocean ecosystems or marine ecosystems are made up of a community of living and nonliving things found in a localized area in any ocean. In an ecosystem, the plant life and animal life support one another and are each dependent on the other for the success of the ecosystem. read more

The ocean ecosystem includes everything in the oceans, as well as the saltwater bays, seas and inlets, the shorelines and salt marshes. It is home to the smallest organisms like plankton and bacteria, as well as the world's largest living structure – the Great Barrier Reef, which can even be seen from the moon. read more

Marine ecosystems are among the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems. Examples include salt marshes, intertidal zones, estuaries, lagoons, mangroves, coral reefs, the deep sea, and the sea floor. They can be contrasted with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. read more