Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
14 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
What is a corallite?
|
A corallite is a stony “cup” for each polyp, they live in colonies and are usually clones.
|
|
|
List 5 different ways that corals can feed.
|
-Suspension feed: tentacles with nematocysts
Absorb dissolved organic matter (absorption) Mucus sheets (cleaning and protection) Mesenterial filaments: (defense) Symbiosis: mutualism with zooxanthellae which provide food and extra energy. |
|
|
How do corals protect themselves from infections and sediments?
|
The coral can clean themselves to some extent by sloughing off mucus that carries the disease causing sediment away.
|
|
|
Explain symbiosis in stony corals, listing the benefits to each of the organisms involved.
|
The zooxanthellae help the corals make their calcium carbonate skeletons. It increases the rate in which they can build the reefs. Without zoox there would be no reefs, they nourish the coral from the inside. In return the zoox get a protected place to live, and a steady supply of carbon dioxide and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus.
|
|
|
Explain in detail why tropical waters are so depleted in nutrients.
|
Tropical waters are known to be “deserts” because they have very limited vertical water circulation. They have very little phytoplankton or primary producers which is why the waters are so clear.They experience year round warmth and are very low in nutrients because they are locked up under all the warm water on the top.
|
|
|
What causes biodiversity to be so high on coral reefs?
|
Reefs have such high biodiversity because they are able to provide a habitat and food for millions of other organisms.
|
|
|
7. List the different food web levels on a coral reef, providing an example of one type of organism within each level.
|
Predators (fishes)
Grazers (snails), Detritus Feeders (sea cucumbers), Mucus Feeders (sea stars), Plankton Feeders( sea fans) Plankton Seaweed, coralline algae, photosynthetic bacteria Corals/ Zoox |
|
|
List 3 abiotic requirements for coral reefs.
|
Sunlight (water clarity)
Water quality (salinity/ pollution) Warm temperature ( range from 20-30 C) |
|
|
Briefly describe the 3 ways that coral reefs are able to recycle nutrients so well and thus be ‘oases in an ocean desert’.
|
- Zooxanthellae
Cyanobacteria (nitrogen fixation) Turf Algae--> Herbivores --> food web |
|
|
In what 2 ways does crustose coralline algae (CCA) aid in the build‐up of coral reefs?
|
They deposit considerable amounts of calcium carbonate, sometimes more than corals, thus contributing to reef growth.
They also create an open network full of spaces that traps course carbonate sediments, which causes the reef to grow. |
|
|
List 1 natural physical factor and 2 reef organisms which break down coral reefs.
|
A physical factor that breaks down coral reefs is waves.
Parrotfishes, sea urchins. |
|
|
State one way that coral reefs benefit each of the following: marine organisms, coastal organisms, humans.
|
Marine Organisms: Habitat
Costal Organisms: Buffer for waves/ storms Humans: Food |
|
|
What is coral bleaching?
|
Coral bleaching is when the coral expel their zooxanthellae, which give the corals most of their color. Usually due to heat stress or stress of other kinds.
|
|
|
We discussed 9 different ways in which human activity impacts coral reefs. Be able to list them and state how and why these activities are detrimental to reefs.
|
Costal Development-->harbors or agriculture which leads to sedimentation
Destructive fishing methods-->dynamite Poverty/poor management--> overfishing Increased temperatures--> causes coral bleaching and corals weaken and die Increased levels of C02 --> acidification (burning of fossil fuels) Increase in storm frequency and intensity (decreased time for recovery) Indirect unknown diseases Introduced species--> community shifts Predator outbreaks--> altered ecology |
