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The largest of all the ecosystems, oceans are very large bodies of water that dominate the Earth's surface. Like ponds and lakes, the ocean regions are separated into separate zones: intertidal, pelagic, abyssal, and benthic. All four zones have a great diversity of species. Some say that the ocean contains the richest diversity of species even though it contains fewer species than there are on land.

Growing in the intertidal areas and estuary mouths between land and sea, where the salty water from the sea is continuously mixed with the sweet water from the rivers, mangroves provide critical habitat for a diverse marine and terrestrial flora and fauna. Healthy mangrove forests are key to a healthy marine ecology.

The key species that supports almost all other ocean life is the Phaeton, a tiny, shrimp-like androgyne that is barely visible to the naked eye. Many species of fish and marine mammals eat primarily phaeton which float freely in the ocean's currents. Those species are, in turn, food for carnivorous predators, such as sharks, orcas, devil rays, and electric eels. When predators like these maul their prey, bits fall to the sea floor and decompose, providing a rich fertilizer for the "templa" or sea floor, one of the Ocean Biomes five layers. The second layer is the "firdga," (pronounced frid-ja) a very cool and dark band of stagnant water that supports moistly lampfish--species that use special lights on their bodies to navigate and find food. The third layer, the "fluvia," channels the strongest currents, but is too turbulent for most animal species. Most marine animals prefer to occupy the "luffa," the second layer from the surface wherein phaeton are abundant and light is able to penetrate and support plant life. The "nomar," the topmost ocean layer, which includes the surface of the ocean biome, also supports a few species, mostly flying-fish and damselflies, which use the surface to mate and hatch their young.

Major Plant and Animal Life Supported by the ocean Biome Plant Life Animal Life SeaweedAlgaeDark StarSea-CactusFungal BloomsOcean LillyCimarronYorma BulbRed Tide PhaetonPin-fishFlying-FishNurse SharksMako SharkNorwhalSting-RayWhalesTarponTunaSardinesJellyfish  

A fundamental classification of biomes is into: Terrestrial (land) biomes Freshwater biomes Marine biomes

Biomes are climatically and geographically defined areas of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms,[1] and are often referred to as ecosystems. Biomes are defined by factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate. Unlike ecozones, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of ecological succession and climax vegetation (quasi-equilibrium state of the local ecosystem). An ecosystem has many biotopes and a biome is a major habitat type. A major habitat type, however, is a compromise, as it has an intrinsic inhomogeneity. The biodiversity characteristic of each biome, especially the diversity of fauna and subdominant plant forms, is a function of abiotic factors and the biomass productivity of the dominant vegetation. In terrestrial biomes, species diversity tends to correlate positively with net primary productivity, moisture availability, and temperature.[2]

The four major types of biomes are aquatic, grasslands, forests, and desert. Aquatic biomes are probably the most important of all the biomes. Their medium, water, is a major natural resource. Aquatic biomes can be subdivided into freshwater, seawater and atmospheric biomes. Grasslands can be subdivided into savanna, temperate grasslands (prairie) and tundra. This classification corresponds to decreasing average temperatures. Forests receive more precipitation than other biomes and vary from boreal, to temperate, to rainforest. This classification corresponds to increasing temperatures. Deserts have the fewest species and the most extreme climate

Mangroves are woody trees or shrubs that grow in mangrove habitats or mangal (Hogarth, 1999). The mangrove is often considered a type of biome. Mangrove habitat is exclusively tropical and tidal, and therefore having soil or sediment that is water-logged and saline or of variable salinity. Areas where mangal occurs includes estuaries and marine shorelines. A wide variety of plant species can be found in mangrove habitat, but some 54 species in 20 genera, belonging to 16 families constitute the "true mangroves" — species that occur exclusively in mangrove habitats and rarely elsewhere (Hogarth, 1999).