Coral Reefs

By Devante Lalla
2s
05/03/10
 Table of Contents
Page 1 - Introduction - Coral Reefs

Page 2 - Locations - Great Barrier Reef

Page 3 - Why are Coral reefs important?

Page 4 and 5 - How are Coral reefs being affected by man?

Page 5 - What is being done to protect Coral reefs?

Page 6 - Conclusion

Page 7 – Bibliography
 Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living animal colonies, found in marine
waters containing few nutrients. In most healthy reefs, stony corals are predominant. The
accumulation of skeletal material, broken and piled up by wave action and bioeroders,
produces formation that supports the living corals and a great biodiversity of other
animals and plant life. Also known as “rainforests of the sea” the Great Barrier Reef is
the largest and most popular reef in the world and that is why I have chosen that reef to
write about in this project. Also to raise readers’ awareness about the importance of Coral
reefs and the endangerment of the variety of organisms that use Coral reefs as their
habitat.

Coral Reefs…
 The Great Barrier Reef – Location

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef system composed of over 2,900
individual reefs[and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometers over an area of
approximately 344,400 square kilometers the reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the
coast of Queensland in northeast Australia.

A satellite image of the Great Barrier Reef

 Why is Coral Reefs Important?

Coral reefs are a vital part of an ecosystem. They represent the skeletons of algae and
corals solidified into calcium carbonate. There are several different types of reef,
including apron, fringing and table, depending on their relationship to the shore. In terms
of the ecosystem, coral reefs support a huge amount of sea life by recycling nutrients in
nutrient-low parts of the ocean, therefore providing life and health for the surrounding sea
life, while also feeding off it to produce new reef formations. They also represent homes
for various types of tropical fish, and other sea organisms, such as lobsters and sea turtles.
Also famous reefs such as the Great Barrier Reef brings in a lot of tourism income and
revenue for the country of Australia

The Great Barrier Reef

 How are Coral reefs affected by Man?

Fishing

The unsustainable over fishing of keystone species, such as the Giant Triton, can disrupt
food chains vital to reef life. Also the over fishing of certain species near coral reefs can
easily affect the reef's ecological balance and biodiversity Fishing also impacts the reef
through increased water pollution from boats, by-catch of unwanted species (such as
dolphins and turtles) and habitat destruction from trawling, anchors and nets

Pollution

Another key threat faced by the Great Barrier Reef is pollution and declining water
quality. The rivers of north eastern Australia pollute the Reef during tropical flood
events. Over 90% of this pollution comes from farm runoff which is caused by farming
and construction of roads, buildings, ports, channels, and harbors which can carry soil
laden with carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and minerals into the nutrient rich water.

Climate change

The most significant threat to Coral Reefs is climate change. Mass coral bleaching events
due to elevated ocean temperatures caused by the depletion of the ozone layer occurred
many times in the summers of 1998, 2002 and 2006 especially in the Great Barrier Reef.
Coral bleaching is expected to become an annual occurrence.

Bleached and unbleached coral

Ocean acidification

Another problem related to climate change is ocean acidification. Ocean acidification

results from increases in the atmospheric carbon dioxide, which increases the amount of
carbon dioxide dissolved surface is another long-term concern for the survival of coral
reefs in the oceans. The dissolved carbon dioxide gas reacts with the water to form
carbonic acid, and thus acidifies the ocean. This decreasing ocean

Ocean acidification affects Coral reefs

Other issues

Coral mining is another threat. Both small scale harvesting by villagers and industrial
scale mining by companies are serious threats. Mining is usually done to produce
construction materials. Another factor is that some boats and ships require access points
into bays and islands to load and unload cargo and people. For this, parts of reefs are
often chopped away to clear a path. Although this may seems a minor destruction of the
reef, negative consequences can include altered water circulation and altered tidal
patterns which result in a turnaround in the reef's supply of nutrients; sometimes
destroying a great part of the reef

Coral Mining
 What is being done to protect Coral Reefs?
Organizations such as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park which protects a large part
of Australia's Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities also protect Coral reefs around
the world. They do so by enforcing many laws and restrictions in Coral reefs. For
example fishing and the removal of artifacts or wildlife (fish, coral, sea shells etc.) is
strictly regulated, and commercial shipping traffic must stick to certain specific defined
shipping routes that avoid the most sensitive Coral reefs. They have also enforced laws
about polluting the nutrient rich waters of Coral Reefs, dropping anchors onto the Coral
reefs and the mining of corals in Coral reefs. These organizations also give tips to people
about how they can protect Coral Reefs by: Eliminating or reducing pesticides and
insecticides from their lives and reducing the amount of water they use in their daily lives
because the less water they use, the less wastewater eventually finds its way back to the
ocean. They also are looking for ways to reduce the process of coral bleaching in Coral
reefs All these guidelines, tips, doings and laws enforced by these organizations have
helped protect the Coral reefs of the world.

A member of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park monitors the coral in the
reef
 Conclusion
In concluding I hope that this project will raise readers’ awareness about the importance
of Coral reefs and the million of creatures that live in them to the environment
Bibliography

Bing Images
Goggle Images

Wikipedia
Yahoo Answers