Aquatic Ecosystems

From the article I would say that the aquatic ecosystems are not in the best shape. There are many things that can cause this, many of these are human effects and can be stopped if we try. Over fishing is one of the largest causes. This is stripping the ecosystems of the variety and amount of species within each system, such as predator fish. It also disrupts aquatic food chains by destroying producers and consumers. This is because the fish are not feeding on plants or algae and larger fish are not able to feed on those fish that are being stripped out of the system. Some fishing can be done but the fishermen need to be careful how much and what method they use to do it. With the nets they are stripping parts of the coral reefs. The resources that the fish and other sea creatures need to survive are being hurt through the things that humans do. Not only are the resources being stripped from the ecosystem but also many nutrients that the ecosystems need to survive are gone. Because these things have been taken out of the equation for the ecosystem they are considered a limiting factor of the population.
Many other activities are currently being done to harm the aquatic ecosystems. Some of them include chemical run-offs from farms, burning fossil fuels, and the earth heating up. This means the weather and climate will drastically change due the these activities. Run-offs have caused many reef-building coral to be near extinction. Burning fossil fuels has made the ecosystems more acidic and now they hold more CO, which could harm the ecosystem in ways unknown. The fact that the earth is heating is not good because it may cause the coral to die across the world, which will destroy many habitats. All of these actions will deeply hurt the aquatic ecosystems and will be visible in the changes to the abiotic factors and biotic factors.
My personal connection with the aquatic ecosystem is that I go to the beach each year. I love going there to see the clear waters of the ocean. It makes me sad to think about the destruction that we as humans are doing to the ocean, knowing that we can do something about it and choose not too. To see all the people that don’t care makes me think that by the time people finally realize the impact to the ocean, it will be to late to do anything to correct it.
I think that humans play a huge role in the biosphere. We could be considered the director in a play, we get to make all the decisions like a director would. When a director makes a bad choice it shows up in the film they are making, our choices will show up in the aquatic ecosystems. We, as the directors, we have the ability to maintain our great aquatic ecosystem but we also have the free will to make bad choices. We have to know the difference between the two in order not to do damage.
I think that most people do not understand their individual impact on the biosphere. They may believe that there is an overall bigger issue causing these things to happen but not anything they are responsible for. They are not willing to make small changes or sacrifices to help the larger system. Until we all work together to make this larger impact, the ecosystems will be in harm’s way.