How do anoxic conditions affect other organisms that live in the water?

 

Anoxia is simply defined as the absence of oxygen. The Anoxic environment is one that Environment in which there is no oxygen available.

While talking about Anoxic environments, an aquatic environment without any dissolved oxygen is referred.

Step-by-step explanation

Solution:

Anoxic conditions are those conditions in which the level of dissolved oxigen in water bodies like sea water, fresh water, or groundwater becomes completely depleted.

This means, in anoxic conditions, the water bodies completely lack dissolved oxygen.

The US Geological Survey defines that when the concentration of dissolved oxygen in a water body is less than 0.5 mg/L, that condition is Anoxic condition.

Anoxic condition can be caused by decomposition of organic matter by oxygen-utilising bacteria.

It may also occur if the rate of oxidation of organic matter by bacteria is greater than the supply of dissolved oxygen

Talking about those organisms that live in water. These organisms like fishes, are completely dependent on the dissolved oxygen in water body.

The water along with dissolved oxygen enters the body of these organisms and inside their body, the organism absorbs the dissolved oxygen and completes the process of Respiration.

The only sources of Respiration for aquatic organisms is dissolved oxygen in water only. Majority of them can't Respire through air. So, they are completely dependent on water.

In Anoxic conditions, the water body completely lacks oxygen. So, in this condition, the aquatic organisms will not get oxygen and they can't Respire.

The organisms that van Respire through Air can survive but those organisms that Respire only through water will soon start to die and the number of aquatic organisms in the water body will soon be reduced and all the aquatic organisms may even die.

It is often said that even a very short-lived Anoxic condition can lead to the mass mortality of fishes and other aquatic organisms.

So, in Anoxic conditions, the water body completely lacks dissolved oxygen and aquatic organisms can't survive without dissolved oxygen. So, the aquatic organisms will soon start to die.

So, the Anoxic conditions leads to death of aquatic organisms.