Two reasons why coral reefs are being threatened worldwide are because of tourists, who cause sewage to pollute the ocean and give nutrients to algae, step on corals, and destroy coral reefs with their boat anchors; overfishing causes the mass killing of sea urchins, which feed on algae, thus algae takes over the coral reefs and stunts their growth. B. The process of coral bleaching is when ocean temperatures become too warm, and the algae discharged from the coral causes the coral to begin a stress condition which turns them white; they are no longer the vibrant colors they used to be. When coral reefs lose their good health, organisms cannot live in/around them anymore, and the babies and eggs are exposed to predators, throwing off the aquatic ecosystem. C. 2 ways in which coral reefs can be protected from future destruction are by reducing the use of pesticides and fertilizers which enter the ocean through runoff, and by regulating overfishing with laws that set safe catching limits and controls on…
Ocean acidification may cause corals to die out, and there are many other species that depend on corals as well, making ocean acidification yet another cause of…
Scientific Validity of “Study links altered brain chemistry, behavioral impairments in fish exposed to elevated CO2” Coral reefs are having a problem with pH levels and they are dying some places around the world right now, because of it. This is not only affecting the coral reefs, but the animals that live in them and survive with them. There is a Scientific Study called “Study links altered brain chemistry, behavioral impairments in fish exposed to elevated CO2” which discusses the behavior and neurological impairments of coral reef fish due to more CO2 and acidic levels of pH. More CO2 causes lower levels of pH and makes it more acidic and very dangerous for fish. Overall this is a poor scientific article, because it has only one good source…
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is found off the northeastern coast of Queensland, Australia, in the Coral Sea of the Pacific Ocean. Scientists believe that the coral reef structure was formed 60,000 years ago, but deteriorated due to climate & sea level changes. However, the coral reefs grew over the old structure. The current GBR is about 6,000 - 8,000 years old. The reef’s abiotic factors include sunlight, soil, water, climate, & temperature.…
Diversity in ecosystems has to do with a combination of keystone species, symbiosis, and adaptations. First of all, in my keystone species presentation about grizzly bears I said, “grizzly bears control the population of moose, elk, and other hoofed animals which allow other plants to grow.” If grizzly bears did not exist the population of those animals would increase. And that would lead to there being less plants in those areas which means there would be less animals that live in the trees like birds. Also, they help make more berry bushes so that there is more food.…
“Runoff carries nutrients sediments, and pollution from land-based sources and deposits them directly onto our reefs.(http://wwf.panda.org/).” Too many nutrients create algal growth creating a decrease in oxygen levels leading to the condition, Eutrophication. Erosion by construction, inland or along coasts, mining, logging and farming increases sediment in rivers. This then ends up in the ocean where it smothers corals by trapping them from the light which is needed to survive. Sedimentation limits the light ability to the corals inhibiting their ability to feed and reproduce.…
It is also a breeding ground for animals such as six different species of turtles. The great the barrier reef is ancient and to some is dated back to around twenty million years ago. Sadly the great barrier reef is threatened by many things such as climate change, warmer ocean temperatures put stress on coral and lead to coral bleaching. The great barrier reef has experienced two mass coral bleaching events in 1998 and 2002, the bleaching was more severe in 2002, when aerial surveys showed that over more than 50% of the reef experienced coral bleaching. Sediment, nutrient and agriculture pesticide pollution from river catchment runoff is also affecting the reefs health.…
Climate change is the greatest global threat to the coral reefs. Mass floral bleaching events and infectious disease outbreaks are happening more often now that the temperatures are rising across the reefs' water, the pH of the water is decreased. This causes the reduction of calcification rates in reef building organisms. Both climate change, and carbon dioxide contribute to these mass bleaching…
Marine ecosystems and organisms are more sensitive to temperature change than land ecosystems and organisms. The most vulnerable to temperature change is corals. Corals tend to bleach, or eject their symbiotic algae, at a slight temperature rise. When corals bleach, it slows their growth and makes them more vulnerable to disease, which can lead to a reef die-off (“Sea Temperature Rise”). If corals bleach too often, they are more likely to starve, shrink, and die.…
Between 1800 and 1994, the oceans had absorbed around 48 percent of the total amount of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels (IPCC, 2014). Therefore, the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean would have increased considerably since then, and with the increased production of carbonic acid which releases bicarbonate and hydrogen ions, the amount of carbonate ions which are necessary in the creation of coral shells and skeletons decrease significantly. (Australian Government, n.d.) Therefore, more acidic seawater impacts coral significantly, dissolving their shells and skeletons, and hindering their ability to absorb calcium carbonate. Ocean acidification not only impacts coral and the animals that rely on coral as their main food source, but the animals that make calcium carbonate shells such as snails and clams (How does climate change affect the reefs?,…
Topic B: Ocean acidification and coral reefs Introduction • Ocean acidification is a reduction in the pH of the water in the ocean as a result of increased carbon dioxide uptake in the ocean due to humans burning fossil fuels at such a high rate. • Unless drastic changes are made in regards to CO2 emissions, the rate of ocean acidification is projected to significantly increase over the next century. It is currently estimated that without any changes the pH of the oceans will be 7.8 by 2100 ( ). • Climate change and its negative impacts on… • List all points that will be discussed PARAGRAPH 1 - Ocean acidifications potential to affect coral (focus on individual coral colony) Ocean acidification alters a range of marine ecosystems by damaging foundation organisms, such as living corals.…
Introduction: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR), one of the world’s most precious marine ecosystems, has been deteriorating due to poor water quality (Kroon et al., 2016). One of the main reasons for this substantial decline in water quality over recent decades is agricultural runoff of nitrogen, pesticides/ herbicides and sediment (Figure 1). In fact, the water quality is most affected in the inshore areas in the southern and central regions near the most intensive agriculture. The impacts are biophysical in their effects on the marine animal and plants of the Reef. For example, coral cover declined about 50 percent from 1985-2013 (Brodie et al., 2013, p.2).…
Long term records of coral calcification across the Central Great Barrier Reef show a 14.2% decline in calcification rates since 1990 (D’Olivo et al., 2013). Aragonite, a carbonate mineral considered a prerequisite for biotic calcification, is more easily dissolved when oceanic carbonate concentrations fall. According to a study published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “since industrialization, global average atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased by about 36%....and the aragonite saturation state has decreased by about 16%” (De’ath et al., 2009). With the decline in aragonite, many marine organisms are unable to produce their shells, making them more vulnerable to disease and death.…
Mass Ocean Extinction Extinction has occurred naturally throughout the history of earth, but something more sinister is brewing in our oceans. There have been five natural extinction events, and each event had a drastic on the ocean and marine life, especially coral reefs (Veron, 2008). Human impact is creating an extinction level event, an extinction rates of species in and out of the ocean have never been higher. This paper will focus on the causes of mass extinction, human impact, and effects on marine life. This paper will also draw on three separate experiments that show extinction rates in our oceans on a smaller scale.…
Increased ocean acidification isn’t the only thing affecting the ocean, but it is very problematic because it erodes aragonite which is a mineral of calcium carbonate. In other words it kills corals and causes the hard exoskeleton to erode. Action needs to be taken to ensure the survival of corals and the creatures that rely on coral reefs to survive. Coral reefs are sources of food for millions of people, but also are sources of medicines. As coral reefs disappear so do the organisms that are mutualistic to it.…