{"thcode":62,"term":{"code":"BC-428","name":"Structure Forming Microbes","parent":"BC-392","scope":"Biotic Subclass: Areas dominated by microbes that form a hard structure, generally through secretions and entrapment of minerals and sediments."},"uf":[],"bt":[{"code":"BC-392","name":"Microbial Communities","parent":"BC-389","scope":"Biotic Class: Areas dominated by colonies of microscopic or single-celled organisms that form a hard structure, visible film, layer, or mat on or near the surface of the substrate. ..."},{"code":"BC-389","name":"Benthic\/Attached Biota","parent":"BC-C002","scope":"Biotic Setting: This biotic setting describes areas where biota lives on, in, or in close association with the seafloor or other substrates (e.g., pilings, buoys), extending down into the sediment to include the sub-surface layers of substrate that contain multi-cellular life. ..."},{"code":"BC-C002","name":"Biotic","parent":"root","scope":null},{"code":"root","name":"CMECS","parent":null,"scope":"Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard: Category terms encompassing waters from the head of tide or inland incursion of ocean salinity to the splash zone of the coasts to the deepest portions of the oceans and the deep waters of the Great Lakes."}],"nt":[{"code":"BC-547","name":"Stromatolites","parent":"BC-428","scope":"Biotic Group: Areas dominated by large, mound-like formations built up in shallow marine areas by secretions of cyanobacteria, which further entrap minerals and sediment. They form Earth's oldest fossils and originated over 3 billion years ago."},{"code":"BC-546","name":"Xenophyophores","parent":"BC-428","scope":"Biotic Group: Areas (typically found in hadal zones and on the abyssal plains) dominated by tests of large, living, benthic foraminifera (\"forams\"), most of which are epifaunal, moving very slowly over the seabed. ..."}],"rt":[]}