1B+Coral+Bleaching

CORAL BLEACHING Description
== Reef crest some of the biotic factors are algae, squid, four-eyed butterfly, zoo plankton, and the spotlight parrot fish. The biotic factors are important because if the coral didn’t have those then there wouldn’t be any food for the coral or any other animals. There would also be an over population of the lowest and highest fish on the food chain. Some of the Abiotic factors are sand and algae zone, reef flat, reef crest, massive coral zone, and branch coral zone. The only threat in our ecosystem is that the people in the Philippines which in part of south Asia is using poison to kill the fish that they want over wide areas of the reef. They catch tropical fish to put in aquariums. The poison used to kill the tropical fish is not good for the corals health so they are starting to turn white. ==

** The coral reefs are important for many reasons. Most importantly it provides protection and shelter for many species of fish. Without coral reef fishes are left without shelter and they wouldn’t have a place to have their babies. Coral is very important in control to how much carbon dioxide is in the ocean water. Without coral, the amount of carbon dioxide in the water would rise dramatically and that would affect all living things on Earth. In addition, coral reefs are very important because they protect coasts from strong currents and waves by slowing down the water before it gets to the shore. That is why they are called barrier reef. They provide a barrier between the ocean and the shore. That is why coral reef is important to the ocean. ** __ CORAL BLEACHING __
 * __ Importance of coral reef __**
 * Bleaching or the paling of zooxanthellae invertebrates occurs when the densities of zooxanthellae decline and/or the concentration of photosynthetic pigments within the zooxanthellae fall. Most reef-building corals normally contain around 1-5 x 106 zooxanthellae of live surface tissue and 2-10 pg of chlorophyll per zooxanthellae. When corals bleach they commonly lose 60-90% of their zooxanthellae and each zooxanthella may lose 50-80% of its photosynthetic pigments. The pale appearance of bleached scleractinian corals and hydrocorals is due to the cnidarians’ calcareous skeleton showing through the translucent tissues that are nearly devoid of pigmented zooxanthellae. **
 * Who lives there& what types of coral. Coral reefs are warm and clear shallow ocean habits that are rich in life. The coral provides shelter for sponges, nudibranches, fish (like black tip reef sharks, groupers, clown fish, eels, parrot fish, snapper, and scorpion fish, jelly fish, anemones, sea stars (including the destructive crown of thorns),crustaceans (like crabs, shrimp, and lobster), turtle, sea snakes, snails, and mollusks(like octopuses, nautilus, and clams). There are two types of coral, hard coral and soft coral. Hard coral like brain and Elkhorn coral have limestone skeletons which form the basis of coral reef. Soft coral like sea fingers don’t build reefs. Some of the soft coral reefs have tentacles that sting to be able to defend themselves and to catch their food. **

= Ways to stop coral bleaching = = 1. Don’t use chemically enhanced pesticides and fertilizers. Although you may live thousands of miles from a coral reef ecosystem, these products end up in the watershed and may ultimately impact the waters that support coral. = = 2. When you visit a coral reef, help keep it healthy by respecting all local guidelines, recommendations, regulations, and customs. Ask local authorities or your dive shop hot to protect the reef. = These are easy things you can do to prevent coral bleaching just follow the simple rules. v ** sand and algal gone ** v ** Reef flat ** v ** Branching coral zone ** v ** Massive coral zone ** v ** Platy coral Zone **
 * Abiotic factors- **

v ** 4-eyed butterfly fish ** v ** Barracuda ** v ** Spotlight parrot fish ** v ** Algae ** v ** Squid ** v ** Sliver porgies ** v ** Zooplankton ** v ** Phytoplank **
 * Biotic factors- **





THESE ARE SOME OTHERS WAYS CORAL REEFS ARE DYING

CORAL REEFS ARE VERY DELICATE, WITH JUST ONE HUMAN TOUCH, IT GETS DESTROYED FROM WATER RUNOFF .IT CAN BLOCK OFF THE SUN SO THEN PHOTOSYSTHESIS CANNOT HAPPEN. SEWAGE CAN STOP THE GROWTH OF ALGAE WHICH HARMS THE CORAL REEF.FERTILIZER RUNOFF, PESTESIDES, AND OTHER CHEMICALS CAN POISON THE CORAL REEFS. SHOCK WAVES FROM BLAST FISHING CAN TEAR APART THE CORAL REEFS. ALSO, PEOPLE TEAR APART  THE CORAL WITH CROW BARS TO CAPTURE FISH.