Freshwater and marine environments are two fundamental aquatic habitats that support diverse life forms and ecological processes. While freshwater systems include rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands with low salt concentrations, marine environments encompass the ocean and seas, characterized by high salinity. These differences in salinity, along with variations in nutrient availability, temperature, and pressure, shape the distinct biological communities and ecological dynamics found in each habitat. Freshwater environments typically harbor species adapted to low salt conditions and often have high productivity near the surface, whereas marine environments support a vast range of organisms from microscopic plankton to large marine mammals, with complex food webs extending from coastal zones to the deep sea.
- Freshwater: low salinity, includes rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands.
- Marine: high salinity, includes oceans and seas.
- Distinct species adapted to each environment's conditions.
- Different nutrient dynamics and ecological processes.
