Editorial                                                                                              https://www.jaefr.com/
               The Definition and Types of Aquatic Ecosystems
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               Ellis Gray
               Department of Aquaculture,  Universidade da Coruña, Spain.
                                                                                                                               th
                                                                                                                Accepted on 8  December, 2021
               Introduction                                                       are considered productive. A coral reef is an aquatic 
               An aquatic ecosystem is one that exists within or around           environment made up of reef-forming corals. Calcium 
               a body of water. Aquatic ecosystems are made up of                 carbonate holds coral polyps together in the creation of 
               colonies of creatures that are reliant on one another and          reefs. Stony corals make up most of the coral reefs, which 
               their surroundings. Marine ecosystems and freshwater               have polyps that cluster in groups.
               ecosystems constitute the two main types of aquatic  Humans use aquatic habitats for recreation, and the 
               ecosystems. An aquatic ecosystem's physicochemical  tourism sector, particularly in coastal areas, relies heavily 
               qualities dictate how well it functions and how long it            on them. Autotrophic organisms are producers who 
               can support living forms. Aquatic ecosystems are divided           convert inorganic material into organic substances. Algae 
               into two categories: marine ecosystems and freshwater              are the most important autotrophic organisms in aquatic 
               ecosystems. Different aquatic environments are grouped             environments because they use sun energy to build biomass 
               into both marine and freshwater ecosystems.                        from carbon dioxide. As this autotrophic biomass is turned 
               Marine ecosystems are the largest of the Earth's aquatic           into  fish,  birds,  amphibians,  and  other  aquatic  species, 
               ecosystems, and they live in salty waters. Marine  they provide the amazing productivity of estuaries and 
               ecosystems can be separated into several zones based on            wetlands. Heterotrophic creatures feed autotrophic species 
               the different levels of water and the shoreline features of it.    and use the organic molecules in their bodies as a source of 
               A marine coastal ecology is a type of marine environment           energy and raw materials for producing their own biomass.
               that exists where land meets the sea. Estuaries and lagoons,       When an aquatic ecosystem's ability to absorb a stress is 
               salt marshes and mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and            exceeded, the ecosystem's health is compromised. Physical, 
               coral reefs, kelp forests, and backwaters are just a few           chemical, or biological changes to the environment can 
               examples of marine coastal ecosystems. Neuston creatures           cause stress in an aquatic ecosystem. Despite the fact that 
               include keystone organisms such as the golden seaweed              rivers, lakes, and wetlands hold only 0.01 percent of the 
               Sargassum, which makes up the Sargasso Sea, as well                world's water, they maintain a disproportionately large 
               as  floating  barnacles,  marine  snails,  nudibranchs,  and       share of global biodiversity. Freshwater fishes alone make 
               cnidarians which constitute the marine surface ecosysytem.         up almost a fifth of all living vertebrate species, and there 
               Lake ecosystems, which include ponds, lakes, and  are an estimated 44,000 scientifically identified freshwater 
               wetlands, are a classic example of lentic ecosystems, and          biota species.
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               much of this page applies to lentic ecosystems in general.          Correspondence to
               River ecosystems are moving streams that drain the  Ellis Gray,
               landscape, and they involve biotic interactions between            Department of  Aquaculture,
               plants, animals, and microbes, as well as abiotic physical 
               and chemical interactions among their numerous parts.              Universidade da Coruña,
               A wetland is a separate habitat that is continually or             Spain
               seasonally flooded by water.                                       Email Ellis67@gmail.com
               Aquatic Ecosystems are important because they increase 
               primary production and trap plant nutrients, estuaries 
               1                                                                                  J Aquacult Eng Fish Res 2021 Volume 7 Issue 8