OCEANIC PELAGIC

Members: Marcelo Padgett Heriberto Henriquez Jamil Atuan

Epipelagic (sunlit)

From the surface down to around 200 m (650 ft)

This is the illuminated zone at the surface of the sea where there is enough light for photosynthesis.  Nearly all primary production in the ocean occurs here.

 tuna

 

Phytoplankton

Diatoms Seaweeds

Mesopelagic (twilight)

From 200 meters down to around 1,000 meters (3,300 ft)

Although some light penetrates this second layer, it is insufficient for photosynthesis. At about 500 m the water also becomes depleted of oxygen. Many organisms that live in this zone are bioluminescent.

 swordfish  squid  wolffish 

Bathypelagic (midnight)

From 1,000 m down to around 4,000 m (13,000 ft).

At this depth the ocean is pitch black, There is no living plant life.

Most animals living here survive by consuming the detritus falling from the zones above, which is known as "marine snow"

 giant squid

smaller squids 

dumbo octopus

Abyssopelagic (lower midnight) From 4,000 m down to above the ocean

floor

Very few creatures are sufficiently adapted to survive in the cold temperatures, high pressures and complete darkness of this depth.

Many of the species living at these depths have adapted to be transparent and eyeless as a result of the total lack of light in this zone.

basket star sea pig  sea spider.

Hadopelagic

The deep water in ocean trenches

This zone is mostly unknown, and very few species are known to live here. Many organisms live in hydrothermal vents in this and other zones. Some define the hadopelagic as waters below 6,000 m (19,685 ft), whether in a trench or not.

viperfish  tube worms   sea

cucumbers

Pelagic birds

Pelagic birds, also called oceanic birds, are birds that live on the open sea, rather than around waters adjacent to land or around inland waters

Atlantic puffin macaroni

penguins Shearwaters

planktonic Crustaceans forage fish.

 

Coniferous forest

What is coniferous forest? The Coniferous Forest is a forest of

Conifers. A Conifer is a tree that produces its seeds in cones.

The vegitation in the Coniferous forest is small in size, but large enough to feed the vast herbivore population. 

Short summers and long winters

Coniferous trees thrive where summers are short and cool and winters long and harsh, with heavy snowfall that can last as long as 6 months. 

All are softwoods able to survive cold termperatures and acidic soil.

Life on the forest floor

Even evergreen trees eventually shed their leaves and grow new ones. The needles fall to the forest floor and form a thick springy mat. Thread-like fungi help to break down or decompose the fallen needles. These fungi provide nutrients from the decomposed needles back to the roots of the trees. But because pine needles do not decompose easily, the soils are poor and acid.

PinesSpruces larches

 

The animals that live here adapt to these strange temperatures

snow leopard long-eared owl black bear

HONDURAS