Coral Reefs
Published on Nov 23, 2015
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
CORAL REEFS
Photo by NOAA's National Ocean Service
LOCATION
Coral reefs are generally found in clear, tropical oceans. Coral reefs form in waters from the surface to about 150 feet (45 meters) deep because they need sunlight to survive. The three types of reefs include fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls. Fringing reefs occur along shorelines of continents and islands and are commonly found in Hawaii and the Caribbean. Barrier reefs are found farther offshore than fringing reefs, occurring most often in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean. Atolls are a series of low coral islands surrounding a central lagoon, frequently found in the Indo-Pacific.
Photo by Bidwell, Coby
HABITAT
Coral reefs need water that is between 68 - 82°F (20 - 28°C), which is often located along the eastern shores of land. Reefs usually develop in areas that have a lot of wave action because the waves bring in food, nutrients and oxygen to the reef. Waves also prevent sediment from falling on the reef. Reefs need calcium from the water to grow, which is more often available in shallow warm waters.
Photo by Daniele Zedda
PLANTS
Plant plankton, called phytoplankton, algae and other plants convert light energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis. Reef building corals work together with microscopic algae, called zooxanthellae, that live in their tissue. The coral polyp gives the algae a home, and the carbon dioxide it needs through respiration. Besides zooxanthellae, algae and seagrasses are the main types of plants in the coral reef ecosystem. Seagrasses are especially important because they provide shelter for juvenile reef animals like conch and lobster.
Photo by Nick Kenrick..
ANIMALS
There can be as many different types of fish in two acres of coral reef in Southeast Asia as there are species of birds on the entire continent of North America. Coral reefs only make up about 1% of the ocean floor, but they house nearly 25% of life in the ocean. Animals use coral reefs either as a stopping point, like an oasis, as they travel the deep blue sea, or they live as residents at the reef. The corals themselves are the most abundant animal on the reef. They are tiny organisms called polyps, that attach themselves to the hard reef and live there forever. Corals are closely related to sea anemones and sea jellies, and use their tentacles for defense and to capture their prey.
Photo by Nemo's great uncle
Animals (Cont.)
Other animals that live on the coral reef include sea urchins, sponges, sea stars, worms, fish, sharks, rays, lobster, shrimp, octopus, snails and many more. Many of these animals work together as a team like the coral polyps and zooxanthellae. This teamwork is called symbiosis. One example of symbiosis on the reef is the anemonefish and sea anemone. The sea anemone’s tentacles provide protection and safety for the fish and their eggs, while the fish protects the anemone from predators, such as butterflyfish. Sometimes anemonefish even remove parasites from their home anemone.
Photo by Sam and Ian
All information was gathered from http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/coralreef.html
Photo by instragram.com/amirkuckovic
