Main study questions to consider throughout the week
(1) What are coral reefs?
(2) Why do we care about them?
(3) Who is dependent on coral reefs?
(4) Where are coral reefs located and where in the world are coral reefs struggling?
(5) Why have coral reefs been suffering and why?
(6) Who is helping with the preservation of coral reefs?
Today's focus: Coral Reef Biodiversity - The What, Where, Why, Who and When of Coral Reefs
Task 1:
Complete short quiz on basic coral reef information (understanding the basics)
Task 2:
Watch video and check answers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy1Abk1KWak
Coral Reefs - The What: What are coral reefs?
(Info from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Water: Habitat Protection)
The coral reef ecosystem hosts a very diverse collection of species of fish and marine life that interact with each other and their physical environment. These marine animals have symbiotic relationships with coral reefs. The coral itself is made up of tiny animals called polyps. Polyps stay fixed in one place to create colonies that provide homes to symbiotic algae and other marine life.
Coral Reefs - The Where: Where are coral reefs located?
(Info from video clip shown, EPA: Coral Reefs)
Coral reefs tend to grow in clear, warm, shallow waters. Many of the reefs that are endangered are located in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and the Pacific Northwest. (Detailed description later)
Coral Reefs - The Why: Why are coral reefs endangered? Why should we be concerned?
(Info from EPA: Coral Reefs, NewYork Times)
Coral reefs are endangered because of the deterioration of the coral reef skeleton. Multiple factors contribute to this deterioration, including boat and recreational contact, run-off sediment, contaminants, and waste from agriculture, industry, sewage, and land clearing in the watershed that enters the ocean. This deterioration of the skeletal backbone then can cause problems for life surrounding the reef, both marine and terrestrial.
What specifically causes coral reef destruction?
Bleaching: occurs when environmental conditions no longer support the symbiotic relationship with the photosynthetic algae. When the colored algae leave the coral, the coral then loses its color and bleaches, but also loses its source of food.
Overfishing: By killing off the biodiversity living in coral reefs, this leads to bleaching. Overfishing kills the coral reef, leaving the nutrient-enriched backbone of the marine ecosystem lifeless.
Ocean Acidification: Introducing acids to coral can also cause destruction and death of the coral. The calcareous skeleton has a narrow range in which temperatures and pH levels can vary before the reef is destroyed. Deviating from the set point of temperature and pH of coral tolerance can be very detrimental to the coral.
Coral Reefs - The Who: Who is suffering because of the loss of coral reefs?
(Info from The Reef Tank, US EPA, NY Times)
Main areas:
Indonesia Jamaica
Brazil The Philippines
The United States' Virgin Islands Thailand
Australia Florida
Zoning in on ONE place: Florida - "The Keys"
- The Florida Keys is the 3rd largest coral reef tract in the world.
- It is over 360 Km long and covers over 2,800 square nautical meters
- It hosts over 5,500 marine species
- Considered the WORLD'S largest sea grass bed
- It is the #1 dive destination in the world
- Over four million tourists visit the Florida Keys and contribute over $1.2 billion to their economy
**What do these statistics tell you? Learning about the dangers of coral reef destruction, what conclusions can you make about how Florida would be affected? **
Marine Life:
- Not only does coral reef destruction affect other nations, states, and cities, but it also affects life under the sea.
- Hot spots of biodiversity are destroyed
- Destroying essential habitats for marine creatures to breed and develop to provide a habitat to over a million diverse aquatic species
-The hierarchy of marine life is drastically changing because certain species are becoming extinct
Coral Reefs - The When: When did the destruction of coral reefs start affecting people / ocean life?
(Info from EPA and NY Times)
The problem of coral reef destruction became widely noticed when:
- Fishermen are not catching their usual types and numbers of fish
- Certain medicines that aid humans became sparse due to the inability / difficulty of obtaining the ingredients from coral reefs.
- The economies of many nations began to struggle because of lack of tourism. Less people flock to certain areas because of the lack of coral reefs. This recreational income has declined, causing economies to suffer.
Sources:
Source 8 - http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/habitat/initiative.cfm
Source 2 - http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/habitat/factsheet.cfm
Source 5 - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/opinion/a-world-without-coral-reefs.html?_r=0
Source 3 - http://www.thereeftank.com/blog/pcrf/
(2) Why do we care about them?
(3) Who is dependent on coral reefs?
(4) Where are coral reefs located and where in the world are coral reefs struggling?
(5) Why have coral reefs been suffering and why?
(6) Who is helping with the preservation of coral reefs?
Today's focus: Coral Reef Biodiversity - The What, Where, Why, Who and When of Coral Reefs
Task 1:
Complete short quiz on basic coral reef information (understanding the basics)
Task 2:
Watch video and check answers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy1Abk1KWak
Coral Reefs - The What: What are coral reefs?
(Info from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Water: Habitat Protection)
The coral reef ecosystem hosts a very diverse collection of species of fish and marine life that interact with each other and their physical environment. These marine animals have symbiotic relationships with coral reefs. The coral itself is made up of tiny animals called polyps. Polyps stay fixed in one place to create colonies that provide homes to symbiotic algae and other marine life.
Coral Reefs - The Where: Where are coral reefs located?
(Info from video clip shown, EPA: Coral Reefs)
Coral reefs tend to grow in clear, warm, shallow waters. Many of the reefs that are endangered are located in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America, and the Pacific Northwest. (Detailed description later)
Coral Reefs - The Why: Why are coral reefs endangered? Why should we be concerned?
(Info from EPA: Coral Reefs, NewYork Times)
Coral reefs are endangered because of the deterioration of the coral reef skeleton. Multiple factors contribute to this deterioration, including boat and recreational contact, run-off sediment, contaminants, and waste from agriculture, industry, sewage, and land clearing in the watershed that enters the ocean. This deterioration of the skeletal backbone then can cause problems for life surrounding the reef, both marine and terrestrial.
What specifically causes coral reef destruction?
Bleaching: occurs when environmental conditions no longer support the symbiotic relationship with the photosynthetic algae. When the colored algae leave the coral, the coral then loses its color and bleaches, but also loses its source of food.
Overfishing: By killing off the biodiversity living in coral reefs, this leads to bleaching. Overfishing kills the coral reef, leaving the nutrient-enriched backbone of the marine ecosystem lifeless.
Ocean Acidification: Introducing acids to coral can also cause destruction and death of the coral. The calcareous skeleton has a narrow range in which temperatures and pH levels can vary before the reef is destroyed. Deviating from the set point of temperature and pH of coral tolerance can be very detrimental to the coral.
Coral Reefs - The Who: Who is suffering because of the loss of coral reefs?
(Info from The Reef Tank, US EPA, NY Times)
Main areas:
Indonesia Jamaica
Brazil The Philippines
The United States' Virgin Islands Thailand
Australia Florida
Zoning in on ONE place: Florida - "The Keys"
- The Florida Keys is the 3rd largest coral reef tract in the world.
- It is over 360 Km long and covers over 2,800 square nautical meters
- It hosts over 5,500 marine species
- Considered the WORLD'S largest sea grass bed
- It is the #1 dive destination in the world
- Over four million tourists visit the Florida Keys and contribute over $1.2 billion to their economy
**What do these statistics tell you? Learning about the dangers of coral reef destruction, what conclusions can you make about how Florida would be affected? **
Marine Life:
- Not only does coral reef destruction affect other nations, states, and cities, but it also affects life under the sea.
- Hot spots of biodiversity are destroyed
- Destroying essential habitats for marine creatures to breed and develop to provide a habitat to over a million diverse aquatic species
-The hierarchy of marine life is drastically changing because certain species are becoming extinct
Coral Reefs - The When: When did the destruction of coral reefs start affecting people / ocean life?
(Info from EPA and NY Times)
The problem of coral reef destruction became widely noticed when:
- Fishermen are not catching their usual types and numbers of fish
- Certain medicines that aid humans became sparse due to the inability / difficulty of obtaining the ingredients from coral reefs.
- The economies of many nations began to struggle because of lack of tourism. Less people flock to certain areas because of the lack of coral reefs. This recreational income has declined, causing economies to suffer.
Sources:
Source 8 - http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/habitat/initiative.cfm
Source 2 - http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/habitat/factsheet.cfm
Source 5 - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/opinion/a-world-without-coral-reefs.html?_r=0
Source 3 - http://www.thereeftank.com/blog/pcrf/