Chapter 6
Life in the Baltic Sea

Introduction

Content

Objectives

Quiz

Links

Graphs

glossary

Corrections

Updates

Amendments

Content

Living in the Baltic Sea

• Life in the water

• Marine ecosystems

• Salinity and species diversity

• Temperature and winters

• The shoreline

• The short evolutionary history of the Baltic Sea

  
  

Marine biology

• Main groups of life forms in marine and brackish waters

• Plankton, nekton, and benthos

• Review Box 6.1 Facts on macroalgae, mosses, lichens, and sea grasses

• Review Box 6.2 Facts on invertebrates

• The marine or brackish food web

• Energy turnover in the Baltic Sea

• Review Box 6.3 Carbon flows in the Baltic Sea

  
  

Ecosystems of the Baltic Sea

• The coast ­ a high production area

• The filamentous algal belt

• The Fucus belt ­ the forest of the Baltic Sea

• The blue mussel belt ­ a living filter

• Shallow soft bottom ecosystems ­ important for fish production

• Flads ­ shallow water bodies slowly turning into land

• Coastal lagoons ­ important for migrating birds

• Shallow off shore banks ­ spawning grounds for fish

• Deeper soft bottom ecosystems ­ stressed by low oxygen

• The open water system ­ algal blooms

• Case Box 6.4 Monitoring of the Baltic Sea

• The Kattegat coast ­ a comparison

  
  

Fish and fishing

• Fish and fisheries in the Baltic Sea

• Herring, sprat, and cod

• Salmon

  
  

Marine mammals and birds

• Marine mammals, seals ­ threatened species

• Birds

• Bird breeding seasons

• Spring and autumn migration