Coral Reef Research Paper

616 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Coral bleaching essays

From looking at the title,map and photos i assume the article will be about a problem coral reefs are currently having. The title made me wonder exactly what problems coral reefs could be having.. From learning about coral reefs in the past, I recall they are around warm water. They can also be home to many different type of fishes. This seems like an important topic as coral reefs are important in an ocean setting. I want to know the problem that is surrounding Coral reefs right now.
Coral reefs are underwater ecosystems. They provide home many different types of fish and underwater animals. Most coral reefs are found near the equator between 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south latitude. From looking at coral reefs no two look the same. They remind me of a tiny forest. Coral reefs provide habitat and shelter for many animals living underwater. Fish also eat the algae from the coral.
Coral bleaching happens when changes in conditions happen. Water temperature rising is one condition .This causes the algae on the coral to leave and because of this the reefs turn white. Many different factors,like global …show more content…

That kind of relationship is what many people call a symbiotic relationship. Symbiotic relationships are special interactions between animals.They are mostly beneficial to both and they can provide balances needed for survival for many animals. As stated before, algae helps give the reefs color and when reefs are bleached the algae goes away, leaving the reefs to die. A country like Australia would definitely not want the coral reefs to be bleached. The Great Barrier Reef is located right next to Australia and it benefits Australia massively. For one, the Great Barrier Reef brings in many tourists to Australia generating a lot of money for their economy. The reef also protects the coast of Australia from a lot of

Show More
Related

  • Essay On The Impact Of Climate Change On Coral Reef

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    Climate change has been affecting coral reefs in a negative way. If the climate continues to get warmer more of our coral reef become bleached, the structure of the reefs will become weak, and algae that keeps coral healthy will die. In the essay, “A framework for understanding Climate change impacts on Coral Reefs” by Joshua Clinner (2016), he emphasizes our climate change has become one of the long-term threats to coral reef. The article “Climate change and human impacts are damaging the world’s coral reefs”, which didn’t include an author (2001), states that the sea temperatures throughout the tropics has increased dramatically leaving much of the coral unhealthy. Spencer Hall (2008), discussed in his article “Coral Reefs and Climate Change”, how the increase in climate change puts a lot of stress on coral reefs because they are very sensitive to the change of temperature. Rigel B (2003) states in his essay, “Climate Change and Coral Reefs”, that coral reef has already been negatively impacted by

    Read More

  • Climate Change In Great Barrier Reef

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    Leading scientists advise climate change will cause increases to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Rising sea levels pose a significant risk to coastal communities, while the world’s oceans could become too acidic to support coral reefs and other calcifying marine organisms. Coral reefs contain only six per cent of the area of the Great Barrier Reef, yet they provide critical habitat and food for numerous species in the ecosystem. However, climate change has already impacted coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef as corals are very helpless against its potential impacts. Eight mass coral bleaching events has occurred since 1979, triggered by unusually high water temperatures. And because of this, zooxanthellae (photosynthetic algae) leave their tissues and corals will have no more colours hence ‘bleaching’. Without the zooxanthellae, the corals that remain gradually starve to death. Once the coral dies, fish and a multitude of other marine species are soon affected. Rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storm surges will see more erosion of Australia’s coastline, causing community and residential

    Read More

  • Great Barrier Reef Essay

    1655 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bleaching is when the ocean water become 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.” (Cave and Gillis). When a coral bleaches, it is more of like a self defense mode, which makes it turn white. The coral loses its food source as well. The downfall of this is that without the cooler waters, the corals could die of starvation or disease. Cooler waters from below can help a bleached coral bounce back to its natural state. However, if the water stays too warm for an extended period of time, “the corals don't just bleach, they cook and they die very quickly,.” (Westcott). Throughout time, much of the corals near Cairns and northward have lost the most corals. Hughes states that, “near Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef has lost 47 percent to 83 percent of their coral and as you go northward, the Great Barrier Reef has lost 11percent to 35 percent of its corals.” (Cave and Gillis). In another report, “a study last year found the largest die off of corals ever recorded with about 67 per cent of shallow water coral found dead in a survey of a 700km stretch.” (Johnston). In 2016 and 2017, there were back to back bleaching events. According to CNN reports, “back to back bleaching events in 2016 and 2017 have devastated a 1,500 km (900 miles) stretch of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.” (Westcott). Before the 2016 bleaching event of the Great Barrier Reef, there have only been two bleaching events, 1998 and 2002. According the Hughes, “only 9 percent of the reef has avoided bleaching since 1998.” (Cave and Gillis). That means that over 90 percent of the Great Barrier Reef has been affected by coral bleaching at least once in the past 19 years.

    Read More

  • coral reef

    2542 Words  | 6 Pages

    We need coral reefs, and not just to make the ocean look pretty and colourful, they are more than just that…

    Read More

  • Coral Reefs Essay

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    The world’s coral reefs are quintessential to global biodiversity, so much so that they are often referred to as the "rainforests of the sea". Although their actual space occupied by reefs is relatively small, constituting less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface, they support over 25% of all marine species on earth. They provide complex and varied marine habitats that support a wide range of other organisms including, but not limited to, fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, tunicates and other cnidarians. Some of these animals feed directly on the corals, while others graze on algae on the reef. The reef also provides a protective habitat for many of these animals.

    Read More

  • Essay On Coral Reefs

    2003 Words  | 5 Pages

    All over the world coral reefs play an important part in our environment. Not only are the reefs colorful and beautiful to look at but the coral reefs house several different types of fish and other sea creatures. Coral reefs have started to decline over the years due to “climate change, El Nino events, overfishing, pollution and other pressures” (Newnham 1). A healthy coral reef can also collapse due to a natural disaster (Newnham 2). There can be several different reasons why a coral reef has started to decline or has been destroyed.

    Read More

  • Great Barrier Reef Persuasive Speech

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    Coral bleaching is when the tiny algae that lives in the coral which causes it to be bright and colourful, gets so stressed out when the water temperature exceeds the limit that it can handle, which then makes the algae

    Read More

  • The Effects of Global Warming on the Great Barrier Reef

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    A coral reef is a ridge formed in shallow ocean water by accumulated calcium-containing exoskeletons of coral animals, certain red algae, and mollusks. Coral reefs are tropical, forming only where surface waters are never cooler than 20° C (68° F).

    Read More

  • Anthropogenic Effects on Coral Reefs

    2166 Words  | 5 Pages

    Coral Reefs are said to be the “tropical rainforest” of the sea. They are home to over 25% of all marine life (http://coralreefalliance.org.stories/storyReader$77). Over the past few decades they have been subjected to destructive anthropogenic practices. Some of the major threats to coral reefs include sedimentation, water pollution, harmful recreational activities, and global warming. All of these things cause stress on corals and can potentially cause mortality. Corals are made up of two parts, a polyp and zooxanthellae. A polyp is a calcerous body that grows from a hard part of the ocean floor. Zooxanthellae is a photosynthetic algae which lives in the polyp and provide energy for themselves and the coral. In many cases, corals undergo “bleaching,” which is a process where corals lose the zooxantheallae or chlorophyll pigment, and turn white (Wilkinson et all). After bleaching corals can survive for several months. It is possible for corals to recover by hosting more zooxantheallae, but it can take between 5 and 50 years for them to recover completely (Wilkinson et all, 1999).

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Coral Bleaching

    1638 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine a lush underwater place. Beautiful structures colorful animals and places that would never have been thought of before. In reality that's not what it really looks like, really the ocean is a desolate place that is barren like a desert. Many marine species have been lost by as much as 49%.(seeker) A big part of that reason is because of coral bleaching which causes as stated above a decline in species that depend on the coral as there home. Coral bleaching is a serious problem that could cause problems for everyone if we don’t fix it.

    Read More

  • Essay On Effects Of Climate Change On Coral Reefs

    964 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rates of coral calcification on the Great Barrier Reef and many other reef systems around the world have declined by 15-20% since 1990 due to increasing thermal stress (De’ath 2012). It has already been mentioned that the oceans absorb almost all of the excess heat from climate change. This affects coral reef systems in what is known as coral bleaching. The term bleaching refers to the loss of corals’ colors. A coral’s color is the result of the zooxanthellae present.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography Of Coral Reef Bleaching

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    This article discusses how important the organisms symbiotic with coral reefs are, as well as how important coral reefs are to our environment. Also explained is how natural and non natural things things like hurricanes and overfishing affects them. A study is quoted about how water acidity also plays a role in the bleaching of corals. Lastly, restoration and conservation efforts are discussed and how we could possibly help our oceans.

    Read More

  • Are Coral Reefs in Danger?

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    The leading natural cause of destruction among the coral reefs is global warming. Global warming causes the bleaching of coral reefs to occur. Bleaching is a response to stress by the coral reef that happens when the water becomes to warm. The coral then put out a brownish zooxanthelle which causes them to lose their color. Without the zooxanthelle, the corals cannot provide nourishment for itself and th...

    Read More

  • Oceans

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    Animals of the ocean are really interesting and fun to learn about. Many of the oceans fish use what is called a coral as a nursery and a home. This coral also serves as a shelter to the fish from other big creatures that may want to eat them.

    Read More

  • The Conservation of Coral Reefs

    440 Words  | 1 Pages

    Coral reefs need to be preserved for many reasons. In this paper, I will discuss a few of them. First of all, they house a collection of diverse organisms, and contribute to fisheries which provide food items such as fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. Furthermore, coral skeletons are being used as bone substitutes in reconstructive bone surgery and may be able to provide important medicine, including anti-cancer drugs and a compound that blocks ultra-violet rays, they even help reduce global warming by taking carbon dioxide out of the air. These reefs provide a habitat for many species.

    Read More

More about Coral Reef Research Paper

Open Document