Coastal Ecosystem

A coastal ecosystem is an area where land and water joins together. Coastal ecosystems give habitat for a wide variety of marine plants and animals as well as it provide resources and homes to humans around the world.
Coastal ecosystems also have distinct and recognizable land forms such as beaches and coral reefs which are highly vulnerable to disturbances.
Coastal regions represent some of the highest biodiversity areas on our planet. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean are the great location of a biodiversity hotspot.
The coral reefs there boast as many distinct species of marine living things such as a tropical rainforest but unfortunately, degradation of the coastline is leading to habitat destruction and irreversible affect to coastal communities.
Coastal Ecosystem Characteristics
Coastal ecosystems include highly biodiversity marine communities that vary depending on local topography and climate. Examples of coastal ecosystems also include bays, estuaries, mangroves, salt marshes and wetlands.
Many fish, turtles and migratory birds nest in coastal areas because of the large amount of food and also because they are protected from some of the dangers of the deep ocean. These communities are very sensitive to disturbances caused by human activity, natural disasters and the introduction of invasive species.
The organisms that live in coastal areas are capable to flourish because of the availability of sunlight and a sustained supply of nutrients. The shallow waters of coastal ecosystems allow sunlight to infiltrate to the ocean floor where nutrients from dead organisms can gather and support life.
Sunlight only penetrates to an ocean depth of 50 to 100 meters, therefore this type of nourishing environment is not present in the deep ocean where nutrients sink to depths that do not support most of the living organisms.

By: Saksham Gupta
Content: https://sciencing.com/coastal-ecosystem-7675093.html