<\/p>
Spatial Distribution<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> An easy way to classify marine life forms is according to their habitat. The benthos includes epifauna and infauna. Epifauna are the organisms that live on the bottom of the sea whereas infauna include organisms that survive in the sediment of the seafloor. This definition is sometimes used referring to organisms like fishes and even other animals that live on the sea bottom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> <\/p> Evolutionary Relationships<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> All living things show differences in capabilities for ecological and evolutionary adaptations to changing conditions. The combined effects of ecological and evolutionary adaptations decide whether certain individuals of a species will obtain adequate resources to survive and successfully reproduce. In simple terms successful reproduction would mean that an organism produces an offspring which is in turn capable of producing offspring successfully.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> <\/p> Evolutionary Adaptations<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Evolutionary adaptations only occur in populations and not in individuals. Individuals are meant to die irrespective of the weather, the population, to which it belongs to continues to exist, grow, adapt and evolve. Of all the countless species that have evolved on our planet over a span of more than three billion years history of life, only about 5% exist today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> <\/p> Taxonomy and Classification<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> When we look at marine species, there is undoubtedly a vast, complex and sometimes confusing array of diversity. The taxonomic system of classification provides a means\u00a0to cope with the diversity of living organisms. The identification of species along with the patterns of relationships among them is based on the processes of biological evolution. Patterns of relationships among species are dependent on the alterations in the characteristics of an organism. The taxonomic classification process is not complete with the naming of a species. There exists a hierarchy of taxonomic categories in which species is the last element. The hierarchy of taxonomic categories in their correct order is: Kingdom, Phylum or Division, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> <\/p> \u202fTrophic Relationships<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Some relationships between living organisms can be explained through their trophic associations. This approach entails where each organism falls in the food chain. In other words, it includes what an organism eats and what eats it. It is the trophic associations that an organism forms with others while obtaining food that creates a fabric of communities of organisms in all ecosystems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> <\/p> Harvesting Energy<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Living organisms need two basic things for their survival, matter and energy. All life forms on earth fulfil their energy needs with the use of molecules of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as their currency of energy exchange.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Plants obtain energy through photosynthesis which is a biochemical process that makes use of light-absorbing pigments like chlorophyll to absorb energy from the rays of the sun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> The transfer of matter and energy between living organisms has resulted in the evolution of a close interdependence of three main categories of marine organisms: viz. autotrophic primary producers and heterotrophic consumers and decomposers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> <\/p> <\/p> Food Chains and Food Webs<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Marine communities rarely exist in simple linear food chains. Instead, a complex interconnected food web gives a more accurate picture of how members in the marine environment feed on one another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> The first trophic level of marine food webs is mainly occupied by widespread microscopic phytoplankton with only a very few near-shore and deep-sea exceptions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> There are some marine organisms which form symbiotic relationships. Such intimate and beneficial relationships imply a prolonged mutual dependence between two or more species.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> <\/p> The General Nature of Marine Life<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Modern marine organisms apparently share many fundamental structural and behavioural characteristics with modern terrestrial organisms since they are after all relatives and share a common ancestor somewhere along the timeline of life. However, marine life is unique in its own ways. The essence of marine life is that they exist within a dense, circulating and interconnected seawater medium. The biology of the marine organisms is by and large the biology of the tiny marine life, specifically phytoplankton. The structural character of the marine life begins with phytoplankton.<\/span><\/p> <\/p> <\/p>","urlTitle":"patterns-of-association-within-the-ocean","url":"\/blog\/patterns-of-association-within-the-ocean\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/patterns-of-association-within-the-ocean\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/wonplanet.co.uk\/blog\/patterns-of-association-within-the-ocean\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1660817993,"updatedAt":1661186345,"publishedAt":1660818252,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":103581,"name":"won-planet"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kzkfvbe0pgul50gwjhpszdlqk3bkwcnkay5bw0mrkjd1pech.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kzkfvbe0pgul50gwjhpszdlqk3bkwcnkay5bw0mrkjd1pech.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kzkfvbe0pgul50gwjhpszdlqk3bkwcnkay5bw0mrkjd1pech.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"Patterns of Association Within The Ocean","metaDescription":"Learn about spatial distribution within our oceans.","keyPhraseCampaignId":1847,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":9327,"title":"Ocean Acidification","url":"\/blog\/ocean-acification\/","urlTitle":"ocean-acification","division":103581,"description":"Ocean acidification occurs when the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vrgroeny6ilb4x8d9sdgra3c40ryqqqxpkyxl6iiukpbb1mm.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vrgroeny6ilb4x8d9sdgra3c40ryqqqxpkyxl6iiukpbb1mm.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":51658,"title":"Stop the Grindadrap: Why We Must Speak Up for Whales and Dolphins","url":"\/blog\/stop-the-grindarap-why-we-must-speak-up-for-whales-and-dolphins\/","urlTitle":"stop-the-grindarap-why-we-must-speak-up-for-whales-and-dolphins","division":103581,"description":"WARNING!!!! THIS BLOG CONTAINS GRAPHIC, UPSETTING IMAGES!!! Every year in the Faroe Islands, a brutal event known as the grindadrap (or the grind) takes place.Entire pods of pilot whales\u2014along with other species of dolphins\u2014are driven from the open ocean into shallow bays by boats.Once trapped, the animals are slaughtered in large numbers, often in front of their pod members, turning the water red with blood","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/wq1yffl8aacpfccfqtoasuufhkrts1xzejswdqoobd98wdbb.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/wq1yffl8aacpfccfqtoasuufhkrts1xzejswdqoobd98wdbb.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":19239,"title":"The Sharks of the Galapagos Islands","url":"\/blog\/the-sharks-of-the-galapagos-islands\/","urlTitle":"the-sharks-of-the-galapagos-islands","division":103581,"description":"The most common of all the species found in the waters surrounding the islands are the Scalloped Hammerhead, Bullhead and Whale sharks.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/krzmqzwryimo6xd4ybobm44stx1ykeaiyvvvduoffephxa9a.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/krzmqzwryimo6xd4ybobm44stx1ykeaiyvvvduoffephxa9a.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}