By: Michael Deffinbaugh AByss/ Bathyl Biomes  By: Michael Deffinbaugh

Productivity  The productivity of this region is so low and almost nonexistent it’s attributed to 0.

MAjor Life Forms  Chemosynthetic microorganisms, anglerfish, deep sea octopus, giant squid, and the tripod fish. http://bogleech.com/bio-deep.html

Abiotic limiting factors No sunlight at all, perpetual darkness  temperature hits 4 degrees Celsius or lower for most of the year. (averages around 2 degrees Celsius) a lot of nutrients due to the food chains in the water above causing animals to fall and decompose. https://socratic.org/questions/is-sunlight-a-biotic-factor-or-an-abiotic-factor

Special features  2,000 to 6,000 feet deep in the ocean the line is difficult to completely define but often just said to be when the water becomes 4 degrees Celsius. Marine snow. The average ocean depth is 4000 meters making the abyssal zone the largest biome on Earth covering around 83% of the ocean’s total area and 60% of the Earth’s surface. Very uniform in conditions like temperature and oxygen

Plant Adaptations  Plants by hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean are Chemosynthetic instead of photosynthetic due to the lack of sunlight. 

Animal Adaptations  Animals will eat anything they can find due to scarcity of food. Carnivores and Scavengers are less seen as the depth increases, more mud and suspended matter feeders are seen. Some physical adaptations include: Animals on the bottom usually have stalks raising them up from the bottom level where the oxygen is most scarce and mobile animals have long legs for the same purpose. Tend to be grey or black for camouflage and not streamlined for energy conservation.

Citations: https://www.britannica.com/science/abyssal-zone http://www.thewildclassroom.com/biomes/abyssal.html http://www.untamedscience.com/biology/biomes/deep-sea- biome/