🪸Why are coral reefs important?
Coral reefs cover less than 0.1% of the
earth’s surface, but they are the most biodiverse marine ecosystem in the
world.
Coral reefs are home to: 4,000 species of reef fish, 840 species of corals and over 1 million species of other animals. This is why coral reefs are often referred to as the 'rainforests of the sea'. From starfish to clownfish and cuttlefish, animals of all shapes and sizes rely on coral reefs for food, shelter and to breed.
🪸Where are coral reefs located?
Corals are found in all the world’s oceans but are most abundant in tropical waters, where they create their own unique ecosystem: coral reefs. The biggest coral reefs are found in the clear, shallow waters of the tropics and subtropics. The largest of these coral reef systems, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, iwhich extends for over 2,300 kilometers (1429 miles) along the northeastern coast of Australia.
🪸Are corals plants or animals?
Coral reefs are large underwater structures composed of the skeletons of colonial marine invertebrates called coral. Corals are animals belonging to the phylum Coelenterata (Cnidaria). These corals secrete an exoskeleton formed of calcium carbonate, which protects the soft body. Generally this exoskeleton is called coral.
🪸How are reefs made?
The corals that build reefs are known as “hard” or “reef-building”
corals. Hard corals, like elkhorn coral and staghorn coral, grow in colonies
and are often referred to as “reef-building corals.” Hard corals create
skeletons out of calcium carbonate, a hard substance that eventually becomes
rock. Over time, this rock builds up to form the foundation of a coral reef and
provides a structure upon which baby corals can settle. When these organisms
die, they also serve as the foundation for new corals.
The basic unit of a coral reef is a primitive animal called a coral
polyp.
A coral reef is made up of three main components: A hard surface, such
as submerged rocks or other hard surfaces, provides a place for corals to
attach and serves as habitat for many coral reef animals. The second component
is the Coral polyps
Coral polyps are tiny little animals that are related to anemones and
jellyfish. They can live individually, or in large colonies that comprise a
coral reef. The third component is the Reef animals.
Between 1 and 8 million species are associated with coral reef ecosystems, and many play crucial roles in maintaining a healthy, functioning, and balanced reef.
🪸What do coral eat?
Hard corals depend upon tiny algae called zooxanthellae that live inside them. Together, they share a symbiotic relationship—the corals provide the zooxanthellae with shelter, and in return, the zooxanthellae provide the corals with food produced by photosynthesis.
🪸What are the 4 types of coral reefs?
Scientists classify corals into four types: fringing reefs, barrier reefs, atolls, and patch reefs.
- Fringing reefs grow near the coastline around islands and continents and are separated from the shore by narrow, shallow lagoons. Fringing reefs are the most common type of reef.
- Barrier reefs also parallel the coastline but are separated by deeper, wider lagoons. At their shallowest points, they can reach the water’s surface forming a “barrier” to navigation.
- Atolls are rings of coral that create protected lagoons and are usually located in the middle of the sea. Atolls usually form when islands surrounded by fringing reefs sink into the sea or the sea level rises around them.
- Patch reefs are small, isolated reefs that grow up from the open bottom of the island platform or continental shelf. They usually occur between fringing reefs and barrier reefs. They vary greatly in size, and they rarely reach the surface of the water.
