Coral Reefs

Flashcards about Coral Reefs

What are coral reefs?

An offshore ridge mainly of calcium carbonate built up from the sea bed by millions of tiny coral organisms called polyps.

How are coral reefs formed?

Coral reefs are made from the accumulation of the exoskeletons of millions of tiny organisms called polyps. When the polyps die, their shells are left behind for other polyps to build on.

What is the symbiotic relationship between corals and algae?

The coral provides the algae with a protected environment and compounds they need for photosynthesis. In return, the algae produce oxygen and help the coral to remove wastes, and supply the coral with glucose, glycerol, and amino acids.

What happens when corals become physically stressed?

The polyps expel their algal cells, and the colony takes on a stark white appearance.

What is the optimum temperature range for coral reef formation?

Between 18 and 30 degrees Celsius.

Why is sunlight necessary for coral reef formation?

It allows the microscopic plants that coral polyps feed on to make their food through photosynthesis.

What are the characteristics of the water necessary for coral reef formation?

The water must be clean, clear, and well-oxygenated.

What is the ideal depth for coral growth?

20-40m.

Where are coral reefs typically located globally?

30˚ N and S of the equator.

What are the three main types of coral reefs?

Fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atoll reefs.

Describe fringing reefs.

Shallow-water reefs that run parallel to the coast and lie very close to the shore. They are the most common type of reef found in the Caribbean.

Describe barrier reefs.

Extensive features found further out to sea, separated from the land by a deep lagoon.

Describe atoll reefs.

Isolated, almost circular, ring-shaped reefs with a deep lagoon in the center. They form at submarine seamounts.

Why are coral reefs important to fish?

Reefs provide spawning, nursery, refuge, and feeding areas for a large variety of organisms.

How do coral reefs help regulate carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

Coral polyps use excess carbon dioxide in the water from the atmosphere and turn it into limestone. Zooxanthellae algae also remove carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.

How do coral reefs protect coastlines?

Coral reef frameworks can serve as physical buffers for ocean waves and currents, reducing their energy and lessening their impact on the shore.

How do coral reefs contribute to beaches?

As marine organisms feed and bore into a reef framework, they remove and/or excrete small calcium carbonate sediments that can be carried and deposited ashore by waves.

Why are coral reefs important to fishermen?

Reefs support an estimated twenty-five percent of all marine life and provide a valuable source of protein in people’s diet.

How do coral reefs affect the pharmaceutical industry?

Creatures found in coral ecosystems are important sources of new medicines being developed to treat various illnesses and diseases.

Why are coral reefs important to tourism?

Their beauty makes coral reefs a powerful attraction for tourism, providing a sustainable means of earning foreign currency and employment for people.

What are some ecological benefits of coral reefs?

Spawning ground, nursery young fish, feeding area and habitat for endangered species

What are some economic benefits of coral reefs?

For fisherman, provide range species that support fishing. For the pharmaceutical company, treament diseases and meidicine can be derived from the reef, and for Tourism, reefs can range activities while on vacation.

What is pollution's impact on coral reefs?

Sediments prevent sunlight penetration, and raw sewage, pesticides, and fertilization cause several diseases in corals.

How does agriculture impact coral reefs?

Inorganic fertilizers cause algae growth, blocking out sunlight. Pesticides and weedicides run off into the ocean and kill the polyps. Sedimentation clouds the water.

How does global warming affect coral reefs?

It causes the bleaching of corals, where they lose their natural color due to the death of zooxanthellae.

How does the fishing industry impact coral reefs?

Destructive fishing practices like cyanide fishing, dynamite, and trawling is destructive to sea beds. Overfishing can upset the ecological balance.

What are some tourism related human impacts on coral reefs?

Clearing of land for construction causes soil erosion and sedimentation. Improper disposal of organic waste causes eutrophication. Collecting specimens for souvenirs.

What is coral mining and how does it affect coral reefs?

Coral is mined to be used for bricks or road fills, sand and limestone are made into cement, and coral products are used in the pharmaceutical industry, all leading to destruction.

What are some natural impacts on coral reefs?

Hurricanes/storms, natural predators, and climate change.

How do hurricanes and storms impact coral reefs?

Powerful wave activity can break off and damage coral reefs.

How do natural predators affect coral reefs?

Predators like the lion fish and the crown of thorns star fish feed off the zooxanthellae.

What are some ways to protect coral reefs?

Educating tourists, proper agricultural practices, setting up marine parks/reserves, implementing fishing laws, pollution laws, public education and awareness campaigns, and coastal management.

What are some measures to ensure the sustainability of reefs?

Marine Protected Areas, Education and Awareness, Coastal monitoring of water quality and mapping , Restoration of lowland watershed and watershed protection and Mooring buoys

What are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)?

Clearly defined geographical spaces managed to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.