Warner+1B+Coral+Bleaching

Tomas, Alicia, Tyrone, Audrey

Food web:

**List of biotic/abiotic:**
 * Abiotic Factors || Biotic Factors ||
 * temperature of water. || density of zooplankton. ||
 * dissolved oxygen level in the water. || Density of living coral polyps ||
 * current strength. || populations of fish. ||
 * Depth/Pressure. || populations of echinoderms. ||
 * suspended inorganic particles in the water (i.e. small clay bits, if near shore) || Populations of mollusks ||

Threats to the ecosystem: Cyanide fishing: Some fishermen stun fish by putting cyanide, a very toxic poison, into reef areas where fish hide. The poison does not kill, but dazes the fish in the coral where they hide. The fisherman then break apart the reefs with crowbars to get the fish. Cyanide also kills coral polyps and the symbiotic algae and other small organisms necessary for healthy reefs. Cyanide fishing is common in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. ||
 * || Touching Reefs, even slightly, can harm them. Boats and dropped anchors can break and damage these fragile ecosystems.


 * Fertilizers  & Pollution || Fertilizer runoff, pesticides and other chemicals can poison reefs. ||

The importance of the coral reef ecosystem is that everything depends on something. Plants must have what they need to grow and animals must have the plants they eat to survive, and other animals need other animals to survive. Without one aspect of the ecosystem, plants or animals will die. Through the process of photosynthesis plants change light energy to chemical energy, When the plants and animals eat each other the energy gets passed on. The key for a good and healthy coral reef ecosystem is a tight recycling of nutrients.  Every species of the ecosystem help keep it healthy. Light, nutrients and temperature all have an effect on the ecosystem of coral bleaching. High water temperatures can cause corals to lose algae(microscopic algae) which causes coral bleaching. Coral reefs are really important because they protect the shore from big waves and storms, thats why there ecosystem shouldn’t be damaged. The atmosphere provides oxygen and carbon dioxide for the plants and animals in the ecosystem....without our complex atmosphere there would be no life at all. The heat from the sun helps water evaporate and return to the water cycle where is can be turned into water again, if the temperature is changed even slightly coral bleaching can will occur. In an ecosystem for a lake, the sun helps algae grow, algae creates food for plants and animals. Also the sun is a huge source of energy for coral reefs ecosystem last, without water there would be no life, water is what basically makes up cell in living organisms. Water is also used by plants for distributing the nutrients they need to survive.The abundance, health and diversity of all the organisms are directly linked to the marine environments the three most important parts of the ecosystem are Producers, consumers and decomposers. This sums up the importance of a coral reef ecosystem. ||
 * || Importance of Ecosystem:

Coral reefs are in danger of becoming extinct. After researching the threats to this ecosystem, we came up with a conservation plan to preserve the coral reefs for futur future generations. First of all, people should be very careful if they wish to swim near coral reefs. This will prevent people from going near (and touching) the reefs. Boats should also not be allowed to dock within 100 feet of a coral reef, because their anchors damage the reefs. Also, cyanide fishing should be outlawed. Cyanide is a chemical which fisherman dump into the water to stun fish so that they can capture them.  This chemical damages the reefs. It’s also harmful for the fish because, since it’s easier to capture many fish, could decrease the population of this fish, messing up the entire ecosystem. Another type of fishing that is harmful and could be harmful is blast fishing, which is when fisherman send shock waves through the water that stun fish but also kill coral reefs. Lots of forms of pollution can damage coral reefs. There could also be fines for companies that dump their sewage into the oceans. Sewage causes algae to grow, and a lot of algae damages the reefs. Heavy metals from pollution enters the coral and kills it. Global Warming is also harming the coral reefs. When the earth heats up, the heat causes water to evaporate. This leaves coral above the water where it will soon parish. A simple way to solve global warming is to be more conservative with our use of natural gasses and other things that have been proven to cause Global Warming. This would mean attempting to use your car less, and ride bikes or walk as much as possible. || Citations: [] [] [] [] [] [] []
 * || Conservation Plan:

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