Coral Ecosystems

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What are Coral Ecosystems Like?

By Daniel Goode

  1. – There are no coral reefs off the coast of the United Kingdom because the climate is not suitable for sustaining this form of life; there is much pollution caused mainly by passenger and cargo ships; this can cut out sunlight passing through the water which is necessary for the coral reef to survive; it also contributes towards poor water quality which has been shown to spread infectious diseases throughout the coral. The average temperature is also a hugely important factor; for coral to thrive the temperature must be between 25-30oC, however the UK has an average temperature of 13oC and therefore would not be suitable.
  • Coral reefs cannot be formed close to areas in which there are large amounts of sediment (such as near various river estuaries); this is because of two main reasons. Firstly, when suspended in water, the sediment severely reduces the amount of light entering the water and thus there is not enough energy provided for the ecosystem. Secondly, as the sediment settles, it may bury the corals. This will cause them to spend large amounts of energy attempting to remove the sediment and keep their surfaces clean rather than using this energy for ‘normal’ processes such as growing and generally staying alive.
  • Coral reefs cannot be formed deeper than about twenty metres into the water because there is not enough sunlight. Inside the corals live a symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae; these are essential to the wellbeing of the coral. They provide the colour of the coral, and if concentration of the zooxanthellae becomes too low this will cause coral bleaching and the coral will die. This means that if they are unable to successfully exercise photosynthesis (the process of converting light energy into food energy) because there is not enough sunlight the coral will die and will not grow in that area.
  • Coral reefs are unable to grow in areas of the sea which are polluted with rubbish or chemical waste because the waste alters the transparency of the water; this causes coral bleaching by not allowing the zooxanthellae to have enough light and therefore the concentration of photosynthetic pigments in the zooxanthellae is low. This means that the concentration of zooxanthellae within the coral tissue becomes low and coral bleaching occurs. Waste and pollution have also been proved to spread infectious diseases throughout the coral. Runoff from human activities such as road building and farming can cause soil with many nutrients to mix into the sea, causing many negative effects such as creating a hypoxic effect and eutrophication (this slows down the growth of the coral skeleton and can spread toxics throughout the coral).
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 – The coral reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba form in parallel lines to the shore only a few metres away from the land because if they are too far away from the shore the water will become deeper. This will mean that less light energy will be able to reach the coral and it will die as stated above.

– The statement that the sun is the source of all life on the reefs is correct to some extent; it is a key factor towards the growth of the coral. However there are many other obvious aspects that are ...

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