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Sustainability of Salt Water and how it can Affect Ecosystems

Bhavjeet Singh Brar plains, plateaus, islands, ridges, and volcanoes.
Gurshan Singh Dhillon The soil is mostly made up of clay. The aquatic
Friday, November 13, 2020 biome also contains great biodiversity with
Background information organisms such as Phytoplankton and manatees.
Water is a substance that contains 2 Issue present with water
hydrogen and 1 oxygen particles and can be The issue present in water is the plastic pollution
defined as gaseous, liquid, and solid states.  It is a that occurs inside of it. Every year 1-2 million tons
universal solvent meaning it has the ability to of plastic enter the ocean through rivers. This
dissolve a variety of different substances. Life plastic includes plastic water bottles, bags, and
originated in the world’s oceans and living plastic packaging. This can affect the biotic and
organisms rely on it for life processes such as abiotic elements of an ecosystem. Plastic’s biggest
photosynthesis. There are over 228,450 species problem is that it is not biodegradable as the
that depend on salt water as a habitat. Water can chemical bonds in the plastic are very strong.
also be used as a source of electricity in
Plastics are made from mainly raw materials such
hydroelectricity as it is a cost-efficient solution to
using fossil fuels as well as reducing pollution.  as crude oil, natural gas, and coal. Each year
around 1 billion kg of plastics are produced
worldwide due to the large demand for plastic.
One reason why there is so much plastic pollution
is due to the cost of plastic. Due to plastic being
relatively cheap it is overused and not valued by
people, so people dispose of it anywhere and
therefore leading to the pollution of plastic in our
oceans. Also due to plastic being mainly a light
material, it is easily carried by winds from land to
the ocean and may pile up and form large groups
of plastic.
The biotic elements of the ecosystems
being affected by plastic are mostly animals. Some
An ecosystem is the biotic and abiotic of these animals include turtles, birds, and whales.
interactions in an environment. In water, these The plastic is dangerous as the animals mistake the
interactions are between the great biodiversity in plastic’s bright colors as food. The plastic
oceans with the abiotic elements such as salinity,
however, has no nutrient value and can block the
temperature, light, and soil. One of the ecosystems
that salt water is present in is the coral reefs in digestive systems of the animals. Some organisms
Australia. Coral reefs are some of the most diverse can also get tangled up in plastic bags. When the
ecosystems in the world. 25% of marine animals plastic gets broken down into smaller pieces, it is
depend on coral reefs, including 4000 species. consumed by smaller organisms. This is how
There are 3 types of coral reefs, barrier reefs, coral scientists have found plastic particles in the cells of
atolls, and fringing reefs and they often need to be plankton.
in temperatures of 70 to 85º Fahrenheit to survive. One of the ecosystems affected by these
Coral reefs also make the quality of water around plastics are the coral reefs in Australia. Studies
them better. show that the coral reefs are heavily contaminated
The biome that water is present in is the with plastic. It clings to the coral and where it
aquatic biome. Saltwater oceans take up 70% of clings, it sickens or kills it. The likelihood of
the earth’s surface. The climate can vary from -40
disease occurring raises from 4 to 89 percent when
to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the average
the coral is in contact with plastic.
temperature is about 39 degrees. Most of the floor
of the ocean is made up of mountains, valleys, Coral reefs provide a lot of benefits to
humans so losing them would be detrimental.
Coral reefs protect our coastlines from storms and
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erosion, provide jobs for local communities, and the long run increase the population of the other
for recreational purposes. They are also a source of small fish as they have less competition now in
food and can help develop new medicines. They terms of getting food. This would then decrease
are right now being used as by over half a billion the populations of the fish above the small fish.
people for food, income, and protection. Local This is because they have less food and the
businesses make hundreds of millions off of organisms that completely feed on Clownfish
fishing, diving, and snorkeling in the tourism would have to adapt or else they would completely
industry. The world’s coral reefs are estimated to die out. Due to the already low population of the
be worth tens of billions of U.S. dollars per year. organisms higher in the food web due to the 10%
Coral reefs are also culturally important to rule, it would be harder for them.
indigenous people. We all know due to human activities,
How it effects nearby ecosystems there has been major pollution occurring on earth
When plastic is consumed by these right now. This is causing greenhouse gases to be
organisms it can affect the whole ecosystem as a created and in the long run absorb more energy
whole. The first example would be with the food and cause global warming. This would actually
web as every little change in the ecosystem has a increase the amount of liquid water present on
big change in the food web. In the food web, as the earth as the glaciers would melt. The real problem
organisms get bigger and the trophic levels are with this is how it would impact other ecosystems
passed, bioaccumulation is occurring which after in addition to the pollution already occurring.
that, bioamplification occurs and organisms can There are many animals in the arctic such as polar
die due to the toxins if they haven’t already died to bears and seals that depend on these ice bergs as
the toxins. This can cause great unbalance and ruin they are their habitats. Icebergs also contain a
the equilibrium of an ecosystem. To visualize this, percentage of earth’s fresh water so it would get
we can take the example of a simple food web wasted if it’s mixed with the salt water. In addition
some Kelp and algae and the producers. Then we to this, the global warming would cause rising sea
would have small fish as the primary consumer, levels. Many people living near low coastlines
medium fish as the secondary consumer, and would have to flee and the flooding can cause
whales as our tertiary consumer. First of all, the damage to some homes. It can also affect
web would start off with the producers who do agroecosystems when the soil is contaminated with
photosynthesis, which is the process of converting soil which can reduce the production of food
the sun’s energy into chemical energy. They take unless farmers use fertilizers which can have its
water and carbon dioxide with the presence of own problems for the environment.
sunlight to make sugars and oxygen as a Some solutions that the government can
byproduct. This is then important as these make is add stricter regulations for plastic use. If
organisms that come after the producers then use you want to use plastic, you should have to recycle
the energy from the sugars that they had obtained it as well. The government could also do stuff as
and then use it to perform cellular respiration. The simple as reducing taxes for people who recycle a
percentage of this energy that would passed on certain amount every month which would promote
would only be about 10%. In the food web, let’s people to recycle.
say that the Clownfish population is heavily An example of a stewardship project is
affected due the plastic. This would first of all with a product called Waste Shark. It was
allow the producer’s populations to grow and in developed as a solution to plastic pollution and is a
robot that can collect 132 lbs. of plastic at a time, and up to 15.6 tons of plastic if deployed for five days a
week for a year. This can be a sustainable solution as if multiple of this product is used, large amounts of
plastic can be collected. Since it is a product by a small company, it can be promoted by governments and they
could hire experienced engineers to develop solutions to its flaws.
Some steps we can take
One solution that doesn’t require any advanced technology that normal citizens can do it to use
reusable items and use fewer plastic items. This would reduce the consumer demand for plastic and therefore
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reduce the production of plastic items. You can also make sure to recycle properly so that the plastic waste
doesn’t end up in the oceans. To make sure people do these actions, people can sell reusable items for less
money so that it would turn out to be less expensive than buying plastic products repeatedly.

Reflection
1. How has this task formed your understanding of inter-dependence of biotic and abiotic
components to create a sustainable world?
In an ecosystem, the biotic and abiotic elements are always related. First of all, the biotic elements
obviously depend on the abiotic factors. The biggest example of this is with photosynthesis. To create
energy for the food web, the producers need to take water and carbon dioxide with the presence the
sunlight which can create sugar with oxygen as a byproduct. Another example could be with salinity for
aquatic organisms. The water that is saltier is denser which means that it would sink under less salty water
that is warm. This can influence where different organisms might live and where they might not.
What most people don’t know is that abiotic elements can also be dependent on biotic factors. A prime
example is with the biogeochemical cycles. The water cycle relies on water to enter the roots of
vegetation which then allows it to leave the leaves through a process called transpiration. In the carbon
cycle, producers are an important part as when they do photosynthesis, it can help recycle carbon as well
as when decomposers decompose dead animals and plants and carbon enters the environment when fossil
fuels are burned. The last example of the cycles would be with the nitrogen cycle when nitrogen-fixing
bacteria take in the nitrogen and when denitrifying bacteria take nitrates and ammonia and return the
nitrogen back into the atmosphere. Vegetation can also prevent soil erosion when the soil is being
protected by the roots of the plants.
A sustainable ecosystem is one that can be maintained by itself with only natural processes. The point I
was trying to prove it that biotic and abiotic factors can be reliant on each other and run the ecosystem
without the assistance of humans.
2. Explain how might enhancing people’s experiences with nature influence how they value natural
ecosystems?
To teach humans to actually value nature, they need to first realize the importance of it. The people who
do not value it might not be educated enough to actually know the importance of it and thus might have
bad experiences with it. If humans can be shown how ecosystems are able to run themselves and how we
negatively affect it, it might make them think twice the next time forget to recycle their plastic. It would
be a small difference but if every human makes a small difference, it can result to one big difference that
is contributed to the betterment of mankind, because we are reliant on natural ecosystems. The laptop in
front of you right now was made from resources present in nature. Your shirt was made out of resources
from nature. Nature is very important to us so if people can be told these things, they will most likely
value it a lot more.

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blueocean.net/plastic-pollution-poses-peril-to-coral-reefs/.

Joyce, Christopher. “Plastic Pollution Is Killing Coral Reefs, 4-Year Study Finds.” NPR, NPR,
25 Jan. 2018, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/25/580227045/plastic-pollution-
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McCarthy, Joe. “A Plastic-Eating ‘Shark’ Drone Is Cleaning the UK Coastline.” Global Citizen,
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www.britannica.com/science/water.