1 / 10

Coral Reefs

Coral Reefs. NS GP 6 th hour. Background. Living coral reefs are the foundation for many marine species, and thus a crucial support for human life Coral reefs are the homes of many species including crabs, shrimp, oysters, and clams .

kenda
Download Presentation

Coral Reefs

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Coral Reefs NS GP 6th hour

  2. Background • Living coral reefs are the foundation for many marine species, and thus a crucial support for human life • Coral reefs are the homes of many species including crabs, shrimp, oysters, and clams. • Coral reefs are among the most diverse and biologically complex ecosystems on earth, supporting 33% of marine fish species. • Reef-building corals grow where the water is clear, warm, and shallow.

  3. What is a Coral Reef? • Coral reefs are colonies of various types of reef-building stony hard corals. • Each coral colony is composed of tiny animals, also known as polyps. • Polyps stay fixed in one place to create a colony that provides a home to symbiotic algae.

  4. Energy Diagram

  5. What is Affecting Coral Reefs? • Humans contribute to the deterioration of coral reefs through physical damage caused by boats and recreational contact, and through runoff of sediments, and nutrients from agriculture, industry and sewage. • Coral bleaching slows the growth and reproduction of corals. • The problem with water temperatures rising is that coral reefs need to sustain a sea temperature.

  6. Geographic Location 1) Great Barrier Reef Length: 1,553 miles (2,500 km) Location: Coral Sea near Australia 2) Red Sea Coral Reef Length: 1,180 miles (1,900 km) Location: Red Sea near Israel, Egypt and Djibouti 3) New Caledonia Barrier Reef Length: 932 miles (1,500 km) Location: Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia 4) The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef Length: 585 miles (943 km) Location: Atlantic Ocean near Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras 5) Florida Reef Length: 200 miles (322 km) Location: Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico near Florida

  7. Plants and Animals • Animals found in Coral Reef’s: • Whales, dolphins, fishes, crab, shrimp, sting rays, birds, sea turtles, and sea snakes. • Plants found in Coral Reef’s: • Sea grass, algae, bacteria, and sea weed.

  8. Questions 1. Is a Coral Reef an animal, mineral, or vegetable? • A. vegetable • B. animal and mineral • C. animal, mineral, and vegetable • D. animal • 2. How long do Coral Reefs live for? • A. 8,000 years • B. 2,000 years • C. 1,000 years • D. 10,000 years

  9. Vocabulary • Symbiosis- different organisms that live together with benefit to both partners. • Coral Reef- colonies of various types of reef-building stony hard corals. • Polyps- A polyp in zoology is one of two forms found in the phylum Cnidaria, the other being the medusa. Polyps are approximately cylindrical in shape and elongated at the axis of the vase-shaped body • Cnidaria- is a phylum containing over 10,000 species of animals found exclusively in aquatic and mostly marine environments

  10. Work Cited • http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/habitat/factsheet.cfm • http://traveltips.usatoday.com/factors-affecting-coral-reefs-63294.html • http://www.coral-reef-info.com/coral-reef-plants.html • http://www.globalcoral.org/questions_about_coral_reefs.html

More Related