What describes the open ocean environment?

The open ocean environment is characterized by low nutrients and low productivity. In the vast stretches of the open ocean, particularly in areas far from coastal regions, nutrient levels are typically much lower than in coastal ecosystems. This scarcity of nutrients limits the growth of phytoplankton, which are the foundation of the aquatic food web. As a result, primary productivity in these regions is generally low compared to more nutrient-rich environments like estuaries or coastal zones, which can support higher concentrations of life.

This does not mean that there is no life in the open ocean; rather, the overall biomass and productivity is lower than in other marine environments. Moreover, factors such as light penetration are significant in these areas, but they primarily affect the growth of photosynthetic organisms rather than countering the low nutrient availability.