Other marine habitat types include:
- continental shelf
- littoral/intertidal zone
- coral reef
- kelp forest (Figure23.24)
- pack ice (Figure23.25)
- hydrothermal vents
- cold seeps
- benthic zone
- pelagic zone
- neritic zone
Figure 23.24: An example of an aquatic marine biome, a kelp forest, located near Santa
Cruz Island, Channel Islands. National Park, California. ( 7 )
The Biosphere
The most inclusive level of organization in ecology is thebiosphere. It is the part of the
Earth, including air, land, surface rocks, and water, within which life occurs, and which
biotic processes in turn alter or change. It is the global ecological system integrating all
life forms and their relationships, including their interactions with the outer layer of the
earth: the lithosphere (or sphere of soils and rocks), hydrosphere (or sphere of water) and
atmosphere (or sphere of the air). The biosphere occurs in a very thin layer of the planet,
extending from about 11,000 meters below sea level to 15,000 meters above sea level and
reaches well into the other three spheres.