Global Patterns and Predictors of Marine Biodiversity

Question: Discuss about the Global Patterns and Predictors of Marine Biodiversity. Answer: Introduction: The goods and services provided by the intertidal shores are critical for the proper functioning of life support system of this planet. They have a significant direct and indirect contribution in human welfare and therefore add an economic value to the ecosystem. Intertidal shores have always been desirable area to live, work and play since beginning of times. In earlier times, estuaries and inlets were places of shelter and staging areas for growing food. As trading developed they provided port for transport and vessel protection. With industrial revolution, ports were used not only for transport of raw material and finished goods but also for water extraction and discharge of wastes. Then in the post material society, recreational activities increased and inland waterways, beaches, coral reefs and cliffs became areas of leisure activities (Wilson J 2005). They also provided valuable fisheries, wildlife environment, and nutrient cycling. The intertidal shores provides us with specie s to measure environmental quality like dogwelk and mussel and barnacle used to monitor climate change. It is useful for educational (e.g taxonomy like profera, annelids, coelenterates, mollusks, crusteaceans, arthropods, etc) and experimental purposes (e.g. physiology, form and function). Other animals seen are starfish, sea urchins and corals. The areas it provides are steep rocky cliffs, sandy beaches or wetlands. The marine ecosystem has been subjected to numerous threats over the years. These threats range from over exploitation, pollution, non-native species invasions, habitat destruction and fragmentation and global climate change. But pollution is by far the greatest threat to marine environment. There are three main sources of pollution of the marine environment - coastal sources, atmospheric deposition and offshore inputs. Many pollutants enter the sea from these mentioned sources and pollute the marine environment. e.g. Hydrocarbon compounds or petroleum hydrocarbons/oil the hydrocarbons are further divided into four chemical types alkanes, aromatics, naphthenes and alkenes. Crude oil consists of a mixture of these classes. When crude oil enters the sea, accidently from vessels or willingly from refineries, it floats, though part of it sinks and part evaporates. This crude oil and its refined products cause physio-chemical changes toxication of the marine environment. It reduces the light reaching the floral and faunal organism for photosynthesis, birds feathers get coated with oil and it loses its water-proofing quality because of which they sink and drown. The chemical constituents of oil like benzene, toluene and xylene are extremely toxic. These constituents accumulate in sediments and fish and over time become a threat to the benthic organisms. persistant toxic substances (PTS) consists of a wide variety of substances that are have been there since a long time, are noxious but persist for less time because of continuous use and removal, all of which leads to their chronic exposures. e.g. perfluorooctanyl sulfonates used in surface treatment of fabrics, brominated flame retardants in electronic goods. The persistent toxic substance contains some constituent which is harmful and not degradable known as persistent organic pollutants (POP). The POPs mostly contain a halogen or chlorine group making them less soluble in water and highly soluble in lipid which leads to its accumulation in fat containing tissues. They are semi-volatile due to which they can transport to long distance through atmosphere e.g. tributyl tin, dibutyl tin and monobutyl tin. Heavy metals nominal amount of most heavy metals are essential for critical metabolic functions but high concentrations has detrimental effects. But some heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium have no known benefit but has severe adverse impact. Heavy metals are not degradable, accumulate in tissues and cause acute or chronic toxic effects. The toxic effects depends on the type of metal and their effects. Heavy metals enters into marine ecosystem by means of influx or atmospheric deposition or direct discharges from industry (Researchgate.net 2008). Water covers more than 70 % of the earths surface and contains more than 90% of the living biomass. Marine ecosystem provides oxygen, food, rain, buffers the weather and regulates the global temperature but still it is being threatened by human activities. Because of the growing concerns for marine condition and development, numerous legal regimes have come up to address the problems of marine environment like pollution, biodiversity loss, protection of endangered species and marine mammals. The international environmental law comprises of treaties and customary laws. Though both these source of law provide support and have distinct legal obligation on states but in practice treaty is more viable and dominant. Several conferences and events like the 1972 Stockholm conference on the human environment, the 1982 United Nations convention on the law of the sea, the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone, the high seas, protection and preservation of the marine environment led to th e international environmental law. Area within national jurisdiction and areas beyond national jurisdiction are to be protected and conserved with the help of regulatory laws. Marine protected areas (MPA) have been developed where human activities are limited. These MPAs are important to safeguard the irreversible biodiversity loss. In June 2011, the United Nation established an adhoc open-ended informal working group to understand problems concerning conservation and sustainable use of marine diversity. Then a multilateral agreement known as United Nations convention on the law of sea (UNCLOS) was agreed to and a package approach was adopted. The package approach included issues like marine genetic resources, area-based management tool and environment impact assessments, capacity building and transfer of marine technology (FIELD 2012). Alien species are species that enter into an ecosystem intentionally or non-intentionally where they do not belong. The alien species can be plants, crustaceans, algae, fishes, molluscs, bacteria and viruses. Most of the alien species enter into the marine ecosystem through ballast water from commercial shipping operations (marinebio.org n.d.). When these alien species enter into a new habitat which is fit for their survival, they quickly dominate the natural wildlife and throw the ecosystem out of balance. The alien species spread rapidly due to several reasons like high dispersal ability, rapid reproduction and growth, phenotypic plasticity, ability to survive on different types of food and in different environmental conditions e.g. Bonamia ostrea, a parasitic rhizaria caused lethal infection known as bonamiosis in European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis. Bonamia ostrea initially spread in the wild and cultivated stocks of native oysters in River Fal, United Kingdom. Around the same ti me, it was detected in Essex and Helford river. By 1986, bonamiasis had further spread to Poole, the Solent and its adjacent harbour. Controls were applied initially to prevent the spread of the pathogen by preventing movement of live shellfish. Bonamiasis remained confined to areas in England until 2005, when it was reported in Northern Ireland by Lough Foyle. In 2006, it was reported in Wales and Scotland. Subsequently 9 zones were designated as infected with the disease (Laing I et al 2014). Subtidal reefs are made up of rocks e.g. limestone, granite, basalt which always remains submerged, even at low tides. It can be found in deep and shallow waters and gives an environment where many plants and animals are able to survive. Two subtidal reefs are Shallow subtidal patch reef in Indonesia coral reefs are biologically diverse and provide a productive marine ecosystem. These coral reefs are usually surrounded by mangroves and seagrasses. The transition zones between these coral reefs and the mangroves and seagrasses are known as coral bommies. A coral bommie is an isolated coral reef patch surrounded by sand or rubble. They harbour a diverse ecosystem for fish and invertebrate communities. Fish is an integral part of the coral reef as they help in movement of material and energy between the reef and seagrass. Coral reef provides both shelter from predators and food source to the fish. Some fishes remain on the patch reef for their entire life and some use it during a life-stage like a nursery habitat. Other fishes are transient and make diurnal or tidal migration between reef zone and patch reef zone. These coral bommies are susceptible to global climate change especially because in the shallower zone there is a greater fluctuat ion in temperatures. So steps are being taken to reduce this problem by constructing artificial reefs to alleviate habitat loss and constructing these artificial reefs also helps to know the optimum size, composition and distribution required to increase the diversity and abundance of these fishes and invertebrate communities (Ahmadia G n.d.). Subtidal rocky reefs in Victoria Parks in Australia - it is composed of rocks found in both shallow and deep waters. Erosions from waves creates rock overhangs and crevices where creatures take shelter. Subtidal rocky reefs are home to variety of plants and animals of the marine environment. The shallow reefs contain extensive communities of plants which form the kelp forests and the deep reefs have brilliant colours due to diverse sponges and marine invertebrates. The Victorian reef also contains bright corals and some big fish. These reefs are important for the survival of some commercial species like abalone and rock lobsters. The problems faced by these subtidal rocky reefs are fishing and removal of animals and plants, marine pests like Japanese kelp and northern pacific sea star which compete with resident marine life for food and space, trampling of plants and animals by people visiting the park, damage of the anchor, climate effect changes like rise of sea level, warming of s ea surface and increase in acidity of oceans. The parks management has established an adaptive management framework with five stages to maintain and restore the natural marine habitat (Parkweb.vic.gov.au n.d.). Every living thing on this earth requires some special conditions to survive and reproduce like sunlight, air, food, energy. But the deep sea creatures lead a far more challenging life and their needs are more complex than just food and sunlight. The deep sea creatures faces challenges everyday like high pressure, little oxygen, no sunlight, little food, darkness and extreme cold to name a few. Deep sea female angler fish release a scent which is picked up by the dwarfed male angler fish which has large eyes and nostrils. The male angler fish hooks to female by its mouth and releases enzymes to enable fusion of the two. Another example is that of ceratias holboelli where the female fish is half a million times heavier than male fish. This drastic difference in the sizes is very important in reduction of the impact of attachment for the female fish. The attachment may be temporary or permanent. Some female species mate by using their light organ photophores which attracts males. And s ome species are hermaphroditic. Through these mechanisms, the male gains access to the females circulatory system and survives by taking nutrients from female blood. This is a parasitic relationship where both sexes benefit. Though most of the deep sea creatures have yet to be explored, these creatures have found a mechanism for reproduction and growth (Piechowski M 2013). Genetics and the Matrine Environment Advances in genetic technologies have increased our knowledge in medical field and helped in biotechnological research. Genetic technologies has helped to understand the pattern and processes that influence the marine life. Though use of genetic technology in marine systems is still not fully developed but some progress has been made in recent years. Genetic approaches have increased our understanding of different aspects of deep sea dynamics like species population, migration, population differentiation. E.g. sewalls wrights island model, fantasy island model. e.g. The next generation sequencing (NSG) has helped in gain information about the genome, transcriptome and metabolome of marine species. The study of genetic variation of model fish system has provided us with data on adaptation and persistence mechanisms useful in biodiversity assessment and conservation of marine ecosystems. E.g. genomics of bottlenose dolphin, tursiopstruncates, helped us understand the nervous system of dolphins and the similarities it has with other large brain mammals like humans. Another example is how sequencing of African coelacanths genes helped understand how fish may have first adapted to life on land and later gave rise to amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Transcriptome analysis is used when gene sequence is not available. It was recently performed on Atlantic herring, fish found in marine waters and great source of protein in Europe and North America. This fish can survive in salinity and can reproduce in both north Atlantic and the Baltic sea. The SNP and other studies showed that there is very little genetic differentiation between geographically distant and morphologically distant forms. Large scale techniques like transcriptomic and proteomic have helped in better understanding of phenotypic variability and functional genomics (Huete-Preze J Quezada F 2013) We know that fisheries business have attained a great high nowadays. Because of the increased demand for fish especially shellfish globally, it becomes important to manage the exploited wild stock and help in stock identification. Genetic techniques are used in fisheries management for identification of markers for stock discrimination. This discrimination helps to understand how fish especially shellfish species have same genetics as isolated reproductive populations. This information helps in management of fisheries because usually local populations are thought worthy of conserving because they contribute to genetic diversity, which may latter be used to increase their productivity in environmental conditions that keeps on changing. Genomics helps in conservation and management of natural populations. Genomics also helps to increases the neutral genetic markers for a number of species. This helps to better estimate the effect of demographic changes on populations. Genomics also helps in structuring unknown species to known Baseline population e.g. mixed stock analysis. Genomics also helps in studying the genetics which help in local adaptation in species. Genomics helps in genetic identification of pathogenic organisms in commercially viable species and to understand the expression of growth factors. e.g. Atlantic salmon is an important specie in fisheries management. Genetic techniques in Atlantic salmon targeted both DNA RNA. An microarray containing cDNA obtained from salmon and data from rainbow trout EST database has been used to investigate salmonoid several disease response and disease resistance and immune response. It has been used to study genes involved in maturation and development of rainbow trout ovarian and testicular tissues, Marine biotechnology is the application of biotechnological tools on marine products and species. Drug discovery is the most known and promising application of marine biotechnology. Biochemical obtained by marine species, algae and bacteria exhibit very different properties from those produced by land animals. Drugs derived Marine species include antibiotic from fungi, two compounds obtained from a sponge that can treat cancer and herpes virus and a neurotoxin obtained from a snail that is 10000 more potent in reducing pain as compared to morphine without side-effects. Marine derived compounds have been used in cosmetics, nutritional supplements, artificial bone and industrial products, novel glues and heat resistant enzymes Marine biotechnology is used in aquaculture for improving the production of aquatic species, for conventional fish breeding to enhance the desired traits in fish, to study about diseases in aquatic species and help them develop resistance to it, to enhance the gr owth rate of fishes, several products extracted from aquatic life is being put to different use like seaweed extract for thalassotherapy, agar-agar, alginate, etc (Mayekar T et al n.d.) Biodiversity in general terms means the number of species types in a particular ecosystem. Marine biodiversity refers to the numerous specie types found in oceans and seas. Marine biodiversity is very important for human health and well-being. The three major patterns affecting marine diversity are sea surface temperature, habitat availability and pollution. Ocean temperature especially from climate change affects the distribution of sea life. Increased temperature and stratification affects the productivity of phytoplankton. Any change in phytoplankton timing, abundance or species has an effects on the whole food web. Due to global warming, the southern species have started moving towards the poles and the northern species have started retreating (Marbef.org n.d.). Marine ecosystem have been experiencing increased habitat loss and degradation and these two processes are critically affecting the marine diversity. Between 1960 and 1995, every day one kilometre of coastline was developed, thereby causing permanent loss of valuable habitat e.g. coastal wetlands, rocky shores and seagrass meadows. Loss of habitat causes reduction in the species and number of fishes. Some environmental changes occur when there is loss of natural habitat and it leads to arrival and colonisation of opportunistic species which benefit from these conditions (Marbef.org n.d.). Pollution occurs in the marine ecosystem due to human activities, chemicals, industrial activities, offshore oil and gas production, marine oil transportation, agricultural and urban activities. Pollution from direct and indirect sources causes steady degradation of marine ecosystems. Though it is difficult to assess the effect of pollutants on marine environment, but it can be established that over a long time it causes stress that suppresses immune system and makes the species sensitive to infectious agents and parasites. The genetic tools have enhanced our ability to analyse the marine population, to speculate on hidden biodiversity, temporal and spatial structuring of gene flow. 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