Coral Reef

GROUP NO 3
PRESENTATION ON CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM
A case study of the mafia marine park.
Certain creatures eat corals. This is natural process on a coral reef but one creature the crow of thorns star fish. It can destroy all living corals on a reef in a few weeks. Thus pelage may be natural and reef can certainly recover.
Coral appear to be susceptible to a number of classes. Hague describe in certainness types of corals, particular in the Caribbean have been associaterd
NATURAL THREATS
Reefs have always been subjected to natural threat, storms and hurricanes regular sweep across some Tropical areas bringing massive waves capable of smashing coral even at depth of 10m(33ft) or more.
Also heavy rains fall can harm corals by bring fresh water and sediments onto the reef.

THREATS OF CORAL REEF
There are two types of threats that face Coral reef these are:
Natural threats of Coral reef
Human threats of coral reef

ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTIC
Tourist Attraction.
Used as Ornamental.
Coral reef are used in construction as Building materials.
Animals in corals are used for live trade e.g Gold fish, Clown fish

HUMAN THREATS
The greater bulk of human threats to coral reef fall into four categories
Pollution
Over exploitation
Sedimentation
Global warming
THREATS.cont
Corals are susceptible to various form of pollution, but probably the most common is simply the flow of nutrients from untreated sewage and from agriculture land, especially where there is heavy use of pesticides or fertilizer.
AMOUNT OF SEDIMENTATION
The amount of sediments reaching the sea has increased rapidly over the past hundred years or more. This can be linked to the loss of forests and the development of new agricultural techniques that lay the land open to rain and erosion.
 

USE OF EXPLOSIVE IN FISHING
some fishers use explosives to capture fish. These explosives kill all fish within a certain area, as well as destroying the corals nearby. It takes many years for these damaged areas to recover.


GLOBAL WARMING
Corals are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature. If temperatures are increased even by just one or two degrees above the normal maximum for a few days, corals exhibit a stress response called coral bleaching.


REFFERENCE
Smith, Robert L. And Thomas M. Smith. 2001. Ecology and Field Biology: Hands-On Field Package,6th Edition. Benjamin Cummings. ISBN-13: 978-0321068811.
Spalding, Mark D. "Coral Reef." Microsoft® student 2009 (DVD).
Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
Wikipedia.com
ECOLOGICAL $ ECONOMICAL IMPORTANCES OF CORAL REEF.
ECOLOGICAL;
Coral reef provide a home to more types of Animals than almost any other habitant on Earth.
Some scientist have estimated that more than a million species may exist on Coral reef making them almost as diverse as tropical forest.
Coral reef are highly productive fisheries and for thousand years have used coral reef as plentiful source of food.
They also provide a barriers between the ocean and the shore often protecting people from the ravages of waves and storms.

Characteristics of organisms in the coral reefs
Most are dorso ventrally compressed
Usually very colorful
Feed on the plankton
Some adapt to attach to the substrate


CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom------ Animalia

Phylum-------- Cynidaria

Class ----------- Anthozoa

Sub-Class ----- Ostocorallia

Order ---------- Scheleratinia.
INTRODUCTION
Coral Reef is the ridge or outcrop of rock in sea that comes close the surface .A coral reef is a reef that has been built largely by corals which are tiny animals that live together in the colonies.
Over hundreds or thousand of year the limestone skeleton of the coral build up with new coral growing on the skeleton of the dead ones.
TYPES OF CORALS
PATCH REEFS/ Back reef
-Occur along a continental shelf where mound shape hill rocks on the sea floor are close enough to the surface to allow corals to settle and grow.
FRINGING REEFS/reef crest
Occur along a rocky coastline where corals or coral remains extend outward from the shore and form an outermost line or ridge that runs parallel to the shore.
CHARACTERISTICS
Coral do not occur in fresh water they occur in marine water only.
Are Most abundant in tropical water.
The Coral that build reefs are found only in warm tropical Water where sea temperature rarely fall below 18C (64f).
They thrive only in clear salt water where bright sunlight can penetrate.
Coral exist with symbiotic algae called Zooxanthellae that live in coral tissue and require sunlight for photosynthesis.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
Many reef are found island or quite far land at the edge of continental shelves .Some of the most extensive areas of corals reefs are found in the Pacific ocean around the Islands of southeast Asia and off the coast of Australia. Larger areas of coral reef are also found in the Indian ocean around the Red sea and Arabian sea. Mainly coral reefs also exist in the Caribbean sea.
INVERTEBRATES
The Crustaceans are well known including lobsters shrimps and crabs.

Mollusks including huge range of types of snail (Gastropods)

Echinoderms including Star fish, Sea Urchins, Feathers stars, brittle stars and Sea Cucumbers.
BARRIER REEF/fore reef
Coral reef develop toward the edge of continental shelf here the reef do not join up to the mainland but grow upwards on all sides.

CORAL ATOLL
This is large bank with a depression in the middle typically ring shaped.
SPECIES COMPOSITION (VERTEBRATE & INVERTEBRATE)
About 4,000 species of fish are regularly seen on coral reef example butterfly , Angelfish, Wrasses, Parrotfish and Surgeonfish and Shark.
Marine turtles sea snake and Dolphins too, occasionally come in coral reef area.



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