Water Based Life
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So far we have looked mainly at land based living. But our planet is two thirds covered by oceans. At least 15% of all the living species living on earth, about 300,000, live in a marine environment. It is customary to divide them into 4 levels.
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Level 1: Primary Producers (Photoautotrophs)
Level 2: Primary Consumers (Herbivores)
Level 3: Secondary Consumers (Carnivores)
Level 4: Tertiary Consumers (Top Predators)
The photoautotrophs are in many cases invisible, though they exist in huge numbers. Many are single celled organisms known as phytoplankton, that occupy the ocean’s upper layer. They are able to use the sun’s energy to produce food, and in doing so act as the basis of the whole ocean’s food chain. They convert nutrients and carbon dioxide into organic compounds, the basis of food for other layers. Perhaps even more amazing, they contribute more than half of the oxygen that we breathe. Seaweed (not a plant but an algae) is included in the category.
We might like to view them as being at the bottom of a pyramid in the water. They are by far the most numerous organisms, and were a dreadful catastrophe to occur which killed them off, the whole pyramid, or the food chain, would collapse. The situation, then, can be compared with that on land. According to the view of the Planet, the lower levels make the most significant contribution.
As we progress through the levels, each level feeds on the one below it, and even the top layer, which includes whales, are eaten by some. To that extent all of sea life makes its contribution to the planet.
But it is the lower levels that will score highly in our Calculus
​Where it all began – copepods
They are actually regarded as belonging to the second level, but because of their enormous numbers, and the fact that they are evenly distributed through all kinds of waters, they contribute greatly to the other levels, and the carbon sink that they leave at the bottom of the water, than perhaps more than any other water based life. Very useful for it helps to balance our climate and reduce global warming.
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Home - click here
The Planet's Point of View - click here
The Beginnings of Life on Earth - click here
The First Big Advance - Cyanobacteria, click here
Fabulous Fungi - click here
Vegetation - click here
Insects - click here
Earthworms and Birds - click here
Mammals - including humans, click here
The Calculus - click here
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