A habitat provides food, water, air, light, shelter (protection), and a place for breeding to the plants and animals living in it. Wetlands are found throughout the world, often in more temperate regions where vegetation grows quickly. They are made up of thousands and thousands of tiny animals known as ‘polyps.’. Although they are geologically robust and have persisted through major climactic shifts, they are however, sensitive to small environmental perturbations over the short-term. Without immediate action to save these precious ecosystems, many species will be lost forever. Wetlands generally fall into five general types: marine (ocean), estuarine (estuary), riverine (river), lacustrine (lake), and palustrine (marsh). Fur-seal populations have not increased despite a long-standing ban on commercial hunting. The seals suffer painful and lingering deaths. A habitat is an area where an organism lives. Whales are among the most fascinating and talked about creatures on the planet. Other ocean habitats aren’t actually in the ocean, such as estuaries. Pollution from the land and air accumulate in the sea with devastating effects to many plant and animal species. Tiered like a terrestrial rainforest with a canopy and several layers below, the kelp forests of the eastern Pacific coast are dominated by two canopy-forming, brown macroalgae species, giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) and bull kelp (Nereocystis leutkeana). Coral reefs provide a natural wave barrier which protects beaches and coastlines from storms and floods. Found along the coastlines, they provide habitat to countless plant and animal species including fish, reptiles, invertebrates, echinoderms and crustaceans. Large aquatic birds such as heron spear fish with long beaks in wetland habitats. In scientific classification, corals fall under the phylum Cnidaria and the class Anthozoa. You can make a big difference for ocean conservation and species preservation. They can also be enclosed areas where species live that are found nowhere else on the planet. Aquatic Habitat . Aquatic habitats—particularly in the seas and oceans–rarely experience abrupt changes in conditions, which is a major advantage for living things. For more than 200 years, or since the industrial revolution, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has increased due to the burning of fossil fuels and land use change. Despite appearances, echinoderms are capable of movement using small hairlike extensions on the outer surface. Aquatic animals can be either vertebrates or invertebrates. Adult frogs and salamander lay eggs in the water where fishlike young hatch. From the depths of the ocean to the top of the highest mountain, habitats are places where plants and animals live. Organisms that live in water are called aquatic organisms. The ocean absorbs about 30 percent of the CO2 that is released in the atmosphere. Many animal species that live in mangrove forests are found nowhere else on earth. Corals are popular as souvenirs, for home decor and in costume jewelry, yet corals are living animals that eat, grow, and reproduce. The salt water serves as the home for the marine animals who can survive neither in fresh water nor on land. A breaking point has been reached in conserving the fragile habitats of islands. Several species living in the same place is called a community. These mammals are not just the largest creatures of the ocean, but of the Earth. Providing a home for fish, plants, animals, and people, rivers are essential for the survival of many species—including our own. An extraordinary number of fish species inhabit streams and rivers. Although the penguin is a bird species, they are unable to fly because they have flippers instead of wings.