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Coral Reef Research Essays
Coral Reef Research Essays
Importance of coral reefs and the consequences of their possible extinction
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Recommended: Coral Reef Research Essays
The first thing that comes to mind when we think of coral reefs is either an image of Nemo swimming through those finger-like plants in the ocean or a jumble of those plants we see on postcards and on television, thinking that one of them (but which one?) must be a coral reef. On the contrary, however, coral reefs are far from being plants but are in fact, an ecosystem filled with corals, both hard and soft, and endless reef species. The coral itself is made of many coral polyps, delicate limestone-secreting animals, which serve as a skeleton for the coral. The impact of these reefs on both marine life and humans is immense, but as of today, we have lost almost twenty to twenty-five percent of the world’s coral reefs and about another sixty percent are being threatened by human activities. Consequently, coral reefs should be protected because they benefit us greatly, both economically and biologically, and if we leave them unprotected, we face numerous consequences that will be detrimental to both our economy and the biodiversity of the ocean.
Though coral reefs don’t seem like much, it’s impossible to deny the importance of the roles they serve as indicators of the salinity of water and its nutrient levels in our coastal watersheds and oceans. Because corals can only survive in clear and unpolluted tropical or sub-tropical waters that have a relatively normal salinity and that are low in nutrient levels (Thurman), they help local resource managers to understand how activities on land impacts the reefs and to identify changes in water quality, which is a major benefit to us because the reefs are able to detect even the slightest change in water that some of the best manmade technologies can miss (U.S. EPA). They also act as mo...
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Talbot F., and Wilkinson, C., 2001, Coral Reefs, Mangroves and Seagrasses: A Sourcebook for Managers. 29 Mar 2012. Print.
Thurman, H.V. Essentials of Oceanography: Coral Reefs. 4th Edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1993. 336-341. Print.
U.S. EPA, . "Water: Habitat Protection." Coral Reef Protection: What Are Coral Reefs?. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 06 Mar 2012. Web. 25 Mar 2012. .
U.S. EPA, . "Water: Oceans, Coasts, Estuaries & Beaches." Coastal Watershed Factsheets - Coral Reefs and Your Coastal Watershed. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 06 Mar 2012. Web. 25 Mar 2012.
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Zubi, Teresa. "ECOLOGY: Reefs at Risk." . N.p., 21 May 2009. Web. 26 Mar 2012. .
issue? well here are some of the reasons linked to these recent changes in the world all around. The world’s climate has been changing and this is causing the Amazon to release more carbon dioxide than it is absorbing, This is causing the Atlantic Ocean to rise in temperature because of the climate change, The dry time is putting all the vegetation at risk of dieback and global warming will continue to be an issue if the amazon keeps letting off gases, This is causing the health of the plants to be
the most harm to our environment. Plastics are convenient and we use them everyday and these are the things that we find in the oceans, rivers and lakes. They are harmful to the earth as well as human health by directly intoxicating us with lead, cadmium and mercury. Plastic debris laced with harmful chemicals are often found inside of our marine life and can poison them. Plastic can survive for thousands of years and many invasive species are found in them which can disrupt our habitats. We need
The amazon rainforest is in danger. In the past 40 years, the amazon has been reduced to 80% of what it was in the 70s. The amount cut down is roughly equivelant to the size of Chile. Everyday, loggers illegally cut down trees to sell and export them to the global market, illegal roads are built for further access to the amazon, trees are burned down and wasted to clear space for cattle pasture, housing, or farming. These people who want to make money off of the amazon’s land, do not care for the
The Deep Sea: Desert and Rainforest published in Oceanus, volume 38 in 1995 argue that the popular belief that the deep sea is little more than an “ocean desert” is a pure fallacy. Contrary to such thinking a multitude of benthic organisms dwell on the ocean bottom; despite the frigid temperatures and high pressure, a large heterogeneity of creatures, rivaling in variety and number those inhabiting tropical rainforests, thrive in this environment. The “analogy of the ocean desert” arose from the technologically
According to the article satellite images reflect that the Amazon rainforest is diminishing at an enormous rate. About 10,000 square miles of this beautiful forest is being lost to pastures for grazing, soybean plantations, and illegal logging. Since the year before there has been a forty percent increase in the deforestation of the Amazon forest. The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest. They expect this horrible trend to only become worse. Some conclude that if the forest is not protected
The Amazon Rainforest is a home to more than 40,000 types of plant species, 3,000 freshwater fish species, and more than 370 types of reptiles. The Amazon is also described as “Lungs of our Planet” because it provides us with more than 20% of the world’s oxygen, but today this substantial rainforest is being threatened. Just like many other rainforests, the Amazon is currently facing many threats and it is affecting society in various negative ways. The Amazon is located in South America. It is
Destroying Our Rainforests Every day an average of two football field sizes of precious rainforest are torn down, killing millions of animals and destroying valuable pharmaceutical plants. A huge amount of these animals and plants have never, and will never be discovered. Experts say, "Close to eighty percent of the terrestrial species of animals and plants are to be found there [in the rainforest],." As people tear down the rainforests they are affecting the ozone layer, and disrupting the
referred to as the “Rainforest of the Sea”, it has a greater diversity of animal and plant life than rainforests. The Coral Reef circulates nutrients through the food web and provides food at all of the levels of the food chain and also plays a major role in keeping global temperatures normal and is the primary producer of oxygen. People have relied on the ocean for many years for things like trading and about eighty percent who still live about 100 kilometers from the ocean today rely on it for
amazing creatures on Earth and they need our help. The rainforests of Madagascar is home to many different animals. One of the animals that live in the forests of Madagascar is the lemur. 1 Lemurs live in high in the treetops. They spend most of their time in the trees and they get everything that they need from the trees such as food and shelter. Other mammals also call the rainforest home. 1 Mammals such as the fossa, mongoose, and tenrec live in rainforests as well. The fossa hunts for it’s food
the hot heat wave of the desert. Sweat dripped from our forehead and felt the warm air stick to our skin. We got picked up and drove to a campsite for 1 hour. We reached the biome and we went to our rooms. The next morning we got assigned our biomes there were 3 biomes; rainforest, ocean, and a farming environment. I was hoping to go to the ocean biome, but the course instructors had different plans, and put me in the rainforest biome. The rainforest biome sounds fun and interesting but it was very
nature. In Vancouver, there are rainforests that are not only home to a variety of animals which we could see as we journey the rainforests, but also the tallest trees in Canada. The rainforest trees are over 1 m in diameter and more than 50 m high. But not only are there rainforests in Vancouver, there are also beaches and mountains which we could go spend our time on! Vancouver is home to mountains and many beaches since it's close to the shore of the Pacific Ocean. The mountains is something you
By the year 2060, rainforests will be but a dream (facts about the rainforest). The rainforests are the lungs of Earth providing 40% of the world’s oxygen yearly. The world needs to preserve the rainforests because without them our ecosystem will suffer. The rainforests provide the western world with one out of four of the prescription drugs sold today and many valuable resources (contribution of rainforests to mankind). The balance of the ecosystem, water cycle, and carbon dioxide levels depend
Destruction of the Rainforest should be prohibited The destruction of the Rain Forest should be prohibited. Planet Earth is accelerating at an alarming rate; moving towards its own self-destruction. What we learned in high school taught us the importance of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. Without this conversion process, life as we know it today could possibly cease to exist. The rainforest provides much needed oxygen for the planet. Numerous rainforests exist around the globe
What is a tropical rain forest? A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem that is anywhere near the equator. These areas are located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. A tropical rainforests experience high average temperatures and high amounts of rain fall. Tropical rainforests are divided into three parts. The uppermost part is the canopy. This is the layer with the tallest tress. Trees in this climate can reach up to 240 feet (blueplanetbiomes.com). The next layer is the lower
The Amazon Rainforest or know to many as the “Amazon Jungle” sits on about 2.124 million miles2 and is home to about 10 million species of animals and over 40,000 different plant species. Not including over 2.5 million different insect species. The amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest on earth. The Amazon rainforest is located in South America , it covers much of northwest Brazil and extends into Colombia,Peru and other countries. Part of the Amazon Rainforest is the River that flows through