Coral Reefs Essay -- Ecology Environment Environmental Essays

red coral ReefsCoral reefs are one of the oldest types of living systems on earth, and certainly one of the most spectacular (Goreau, 1987). They are massive semiaquatic structures formed by the limestone skeletons of tiny invertebrate animals. Reefs house a great diversity of body forms, chemistry, and animal phyla (thirty-two compared to the eight that inhabit the most biodiversity ecosystems on land). Phyla comprise the second largest category of living things, after kingdoms. Coral animals cast down life as free-floating larvae, but settle on the sea nucleotide in sedentary colonies. The term coral applies both to these animals and to their skeletons, particularly the skeletons of stone-like corals (Discover 1997). legion(predicate) different organisms, including mollusks, sponges, and worms, help shape reefs, but hard corals and various alga are the major(ip) architects. In effect, the corals build limestone, because their skeletons are made of atomic number 20 Carbonate . The skeletons deposited by these corals and other organisms accumulate, along with sand and other debris, to form the grit of the reef. Over tens of thousands of years, chemical and mechanical changes describe the reef into true agitate (Alstyne and Paul, 1988). The body of a coral animal consists of a polyp, which is the living service of process of the coral. A polyp is a hollow, cylindrical structure attached at one end to a surface, the other end is a babble out surrounded by tentacles, which gather food and can sting mark to paralyze it. Polyps live on in colonies, which grow from 1 to 7 inches, depending on the species. Coral polyps are classified as animals. Microscopic algae live within the animal tissues in a symbiotic relationship. The algae tour of duty sunlight into carbon and sugars, which are then available to the polyp. In turn the polyp filters particles out of the water and excretes shove along (nitrogen and phosphorus) that becomes available to the sym biotic algae. Its this genuinely tight nutrient recycling within the coral itself that allows these corals to live in very low nutrient waters. There are three kinds of reefs atolls, restriction reefs, and fringing reefs. Atolls are formed out in the middle of the ocean by volcanic subsidence, while fringing and barrier reefs form near continents. Florida contains both of these kinds of reefs, non as far offshore as Australias Great Barrier Reef, b... ...al life. another(prenominal) way that corral growth is controlled is by the weather. All of these are instinctive occurrences. This should not be confused with human use and disruption which does major harm.The fourth and final principle of sustainability is that biodiversity must be maintained. This is where we are play a devastating role to the survival to the reefs. Through human waste and consumption time will only tell if they will survive. I hope that by reading this paper someday we can make a difference.Works CitedCora l Color. November 1997. Discover Magazine-Current Clips. P10Cousteau, J. Y. 1985. The Ocean World. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., young York, NY, pp. 174-175. Goreau, Thomas. August 1987. Coral and Coral Parks. Scientific American. V11334-36Luoma, Jon R. Nov. 1996. Reef Madness Audubon. V98 n6. P24(3).Richmond, R. H. 1993. Coral Reefs Present problems and Future Concerns Resulting form Anthropogenic Disturbance. American Zoologist. V33 P524-536.Van Alstyne, K. L. and V. J. Paul. 1988. The region of Secondary Metabolites in Marine Ecological Interactions. Proceedings of the 6th outside(a) Coral Reef Symposium, Australia, Vol. 1.