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    What Are Coral Reefs

    Uploaded by

    Marloudy Karl España
    Coral reefs are formed by colonies of coral polyps, which are small invertebrate animals related to jellyfish and anemones. Each coral polyp has a mouth surrounded by stinging tentacles. Coral polyps reproduce by budding, forming large interconnected colonies. Coral reefs support tremendous biodiversity but are threatened by climate change and human disturbances. When water temperatures rise too much, corals expel the algae living in their tissues, turning the coral white in an event called coral bleaching. The coral and algae normally have a mutualistic relationship where the algae provides oxygen and the coral provides nutrients. Increased sedimentation from erosion can also harm corals by accumulating on the reef.

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    What Are Coral Reefs

    Uploaded by

    Marloudy Karl España
    21 views2 pages
    Coral reefs are formed by colonies of coral polyps, which are small invertebrate animals related to jellyfish and anemones. Each coral polyp has a mouth surrounded by stinging tentacles. Coral polyps reproduce by budding, forming large interconnected colonies. Coral reefs support tremendous biodiversity but are threatened by climate change and human disturbances. When water temperatures rise too much, corals expel the algae living in their tissues, turning the coral white in an event called coral bleaching. The coral and algae normally have a mutualistic relationship where the algae provides oxygen and the coral provides nutrients. Increased sedimentation from erosion can also harm corals by accumulating on the reef.

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    Coral reefs are formed by colonies of coral polyps, which are small invertebrate animals related to jellyfish and anemones. Each coral polyp has a mouth surrounded by stinging tentacles. Coral polyps reproduce by budding, forming large interconnected colonies. Coral reefs support tremendous biodiversity but are threatened by climate change and human disturbances. When water temperatures rise too much, corals expel the algae living in their tissues, turning the coral white in an event called coral bleaching. The coral and algae normally have a mutualistic relationship where the algae provides oxygen and the coral provides nutrients. Increased sedimentation from erosion can also harm corals by accumulating on the reef.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    21 views2 pages

    What Are Coral Reefs

    Uploaded by

    Marloudy Karl España
    Coral reefs are formed by colonies of coral polyps, which are small invertebrate animals related to jellyfish and anemones. Each coral polyp has a mouth surrounded by stinging tentacles. Coral polyps reproduce by budding, forming large interconnected colonies. Coral reefs support tremendous biodiversity but are threatened by climate change and human disturbances. When water temperatures rise too much, corals expel the algae living in their tissues, turning the coral white in an event called coral bleaching. The coral and algae normally have a mutualistic relationship where the algae provides oxygen and the coral provides nutrients. Increased sedimentation from erosion can also harm corals by accumulating on the reef.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    What are Coral reefs?

    Corals are invertebrate animals belonging to a large group of colourful and fascinating animals
    called Cnidaria. Other animals in this group that you may have seen in rock pools or on the beach
    include jelly fish and sea anemones. Although Cnidarians exhibit a wide variety of colours, shapes
    and sizes, they all share the same distinguishing characteristics; a simple stomach with a single
    mouth opening surrounded by stinging tentacles. Each individual coral animal is called a polyp,
    and most live in groups of hundreds to thousands of genetically identical polyps that form a
    ‘colony’. The colony is formed by a process called budding, which is where the original polyp
    literally grows copies of itself.
    Coral reefs are one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, yet they have
    suffered tremendous losses due to anthropogenic disturbances and are predicted to be one of
    the most adversely affected habitats under future climate change conditions. Coral reefs can be
    viewed as microbially driven ecosystems that rely on the efficient capture, retention, and recycling
    of nutrients in order to thrive in oligotrophic waters.

    Coral Reef Bleaching


    When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues
    causing the coral to turn completely white. This is called coral bleaching. When a coral
    bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress
    and are subject to mortality.
    Algae and Coral have mutual relationship. Corals gives nutrients to the algae while algae gives
    off oxygen.

    Coral Reef Sedimentation


    Sedimentation is the accumulation of sediments, or dirt, on the reef. Sedimentation is a natural
    event and results from erosion of the land and reef. Areas with high natural sedimentation rates,
    such as river mouths, generally do have coral reefs.

    What are the cycles affected?


    Hydrologic Cycle- Increase precipitation
    Carbon- Oxygen Cycle – the mutual relationship of algae and coral
    Nitrogen Cycle – algae die
    Phosphorus cycle – sedimentation (major reservoir rocks and ocean bottoms)
    Sulfur Cycle – sedimentation (underground in rocks and minerals, Sulfate salt from the deep
    under ocean sediments

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