(www.worldproutassembly.org)

Welcome to Matthew Langford's Biology 230 Ecosystem Study Report of The Coral Reef

Introduction

The coral reef is an extremely diverse, multifaceted ecosystem. Over tens of thousands of years, coral reefs have basically risen up out of the sand on the ocean floor to be magnificent cities of life and at many different levels throughout the ocean. The inhabitants of reefs are almost constantly building the reef to be bigger, and as coral and fish die, new coral take its place and grow right atop of the dead. Coral reefs continue to grow upward, most likely do to the amount of sunlight. Among these coral are a community of fish who all have a place and are part of the food web of the coral reef ecosystem. The biggest and most famous reef is the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia which is a unique reef because it acts as a barrier to help protect Australia from extreme weather.

 Location     

 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reef)

Around 90% of coral reefs are located in the Indo-Pacific region that covers the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, South East Asia, and the Pacific Ocean. This region supplies the 70-85 degree water that is warm enough for corals and exotic fish to live. This region also gets more day time sunlight that corals need to survive and thrive. These areas also don’t get as harsh weather like hurricanes that are experienced in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Atlantic Ocean.

Adaptations

Over thousands of years the plants and corals here had to make many adaptations to live. Many of them had to adapt to cooler waters to survive, but since most corals build on top of the old corals, researchers have come to the conclusion that many corals have had the same basic structure from more than ten thousand years ago.

 As for the fish that live in the coral reef, they have made more adaptations than the plants and corals themselves. Fish over the years had to adapt and become immune to eating coral and certain plants. Over time populations of species grow and eat all that particular type of coral and had to adapt to a different type because of the under abundance of the original coral.

Importance

All coral reefs in the world are “biologically productive” and for the most part, extremely stable. Most of the things that grow in the reef, humans use as a building block for food or food for something else that humans eat. Reefs also act as barriers to islands and coasts while also not allowing these islands and coasts to not erode away into the oceans. Many have compared the reef to a “protector” of the land. Another less talked about role they play is in countries economies. Some reefs are used to attract tourist to make money, but this can also be a downfall if it is not controlled properly.