Which biome would you most like to visit? The Ocean Biome Why? Because I would like to learn more of the four main oceans: the PACIFIC, ATLANTIC, INDIAN, and ARCTIC.
Opinion: Why is it as important to know about the water ecosystems as the terrestrial?
This research element studies the potential effects of global change on goods and services provided by aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, using observations, experiments, modeling, and syntheses to focus on critical emerging questions. Newly initiated projects in terrestrial ecosystems are addressing cause-and-effect relationships between climatic variability and change and the distribution, abundance, and productivity of native and invasive organisms. Research is continuing into understanding how increasing CO2 levels affect plants and microorganisms. Research in a Chesapeake Bay ecosystem is generating data to evaluate and forecast effects of warming, changes in fishing pressure, and eutrophication on economically important estuarine ecosystems. In the ocean, coral reef research is helping scientists and managers identify climatic and non-climatic stressors and thereby better manage these important ecosystems. The terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that make up the biosphere provide vital goods and services to humanity, including food, fiber, fuel, genetic resources, pharmaceuticals, cycling and purification of water and air, regulation of weather and climate, recreation, and natural beauty. Recent and ongoing global environmental changes—including climatic change, changes in atmospheric composition, land-use change, habitat fragmentation, pollution, and the spread of invasive species—are affecting the structure, composition, and functioning of many ecosystems, and therefore the goods and services that they provide. In turn, many ecological effects of global environmental change have potential to affect atmospheric composition, weather, and climate through both negative and positive feedback mechanisms.