BIOLOGY OF CORAL REEFS Chaper 1 Objectives Introduction to the Biology of Coral Reefs In what ways are coral reefs extreme large enough to be seen from space biological diversity on coral reefs is greater than any other marina species complexity of interactions among organisms is extreme and extraordinarily beautiful Vulnerability to human hands is extreme How are coral reefs important to humans The rock like skeletons of the corals protect coastlines from damage by storm waves Hurricane waves lose their destructive power Food we eat is home to many species like lobsters fish and octopus Nature based tourism is a key source of income to us humans Corals and limestone are used in building materials What are the environmental requirements of corals and how do they constrain the geographic distribution of of reefs built by corals Coral reefs strive in clear tropical waters which require temperature above 20 degrees Celsius sunlight vigorous water movement and salinity are all restricted conditions for coral reefs to grow Why can corals be considered part animal part plant and part rock Corals can be considered the following because the produce hard skeletons like rock that can be as large as a 15 ft van It can be considered a plant because it uses photosynthesis to retain energy and store it and this process makes it easier for the coral to store calcium It also is an animal since it uses its tentacles nematocysts to capture plankton acting as a predator zooxanthellae What other animals are closely related to corals and what are the characteristics they share Corals are in the same group of animals such as jellyfish hydras and sea anemones called Cnidarians They all share the same characteristics like a basic sac like design with a mouth that opens into a small gastrovascular cavity All live attached to the bottom with their mouths pointing upward What are two ways in which reef building corals acquire food and what is the relative importance of each of these food acquisition mechanisms to corals Reefs corals can acquire food by photosynthesis or acting as a predator using tentacles to capture their prey called nematocysts Zooxanthellae are essential to the well being of corals Once they have acquire the food they need they release it into the thin layer of the coral tissue which is most of the food needed for the coral host How does living as a colony influence patterns of growth and possibilities for overall shape All of the polyps are part of an integrated individual Food collected by one polyp is shared with others through their common gut vascular systems and nervous impulses are passed among polyp The polyps with no brains or central organizing body coordinate themselves to build the colony shape that is typical for their species Asexual propagation is used by budding polyps as well as the breakdown of corals Fragments of what once was a single colony can be used to add to the growing colony or new corals What are the stages of the coral life cycle both sexual and asexual Corals are either asexual hermaphrodites by which both male and female gametes are produced by the same colony or sexual when sperm and eggs are produced by different colonies Some release both sperm and egg into a water column where fertilization depends upon egg and sperm to find each other water spawning Fertilization is set in place and produce planula larvae which ultimately take days weeks or months to settle to the bottom to begin the foundation of a new coral colony BIOLOGY OF CORAL REEFS Chapter 2 Objectives Diversity of Life on Coral Reefs How does species diversity on coral reefs compare with that of other ecosystems life on coral reefs is more diverse than any other ecosystem with around 35 60k described species and that is not all of them as more are discovered each year How is information about the many tens of thousands of species that live on reefs organized so we can readily retrieve it Through a nomenclature system Species descend from a common ancestor and are group together in a genus Each has a two part scientific What characteristics contribute to the most fundamental division of life into prokaryotes and eukaryotes Prokaryotes are very small cells very simple with circular DNA molecules and no membrane organizing different functions in a cell earliest forms of like biochemical geniuses Eukaryotes much larger and complex each include a domain and an organ system What is the importance of the Cyanobacteria to coral reefs Cyanobacteria are important to coral reefs because they live as mats or filaments on coral skeletons sediments or plants They are traditionally used to collect plankton and as generators of oxygen and sugars by photosynthesis How are the 4 kingdoms of eukaryotes distinguished from each other One of the kingdoms protists include only single celled organisms and the others fungi plants and animals is divided because of being multicellular organisms What are the important differences among the photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms division Dinoflagellida in the kingdom Protista and all divisions in the kingdom Plantae in where they live in the sea and how they acquire nutrients Dinoflagellida are single celled photosynthetic organisms that are the most abundant group of phytoplankton which serve as the base of the food chain Kingdom Plantae most know characteristic is their green color which chlorophyll is capable of collecting energy from sunlight they are able to make their won food green algae What are the chief distinguishing characteristics of each of the 6 phyla of invertebrate animals and the phylum with both invertebrate and vertebrate animals that are conspicuously represented on coral reefs e g symmetry appendages skeletons or other structural support and adaptations for acquiring food And what variations on their basic body plan have evolved in each of these phyla Porifera part of Kingdom Animalia they are sponges uniquely simple and homogenous in structure They feed by filtering food from water especially removing bacteria efficiently as they pump water through canals running throughout their bodies Cnidaria radial symmetry have sac like gut through a mouth ringed by tentacles that are armed with stinging cells called nematocysts tiny exploding harpoons that capture prey or deter enemies Annelida segmented worms with bilateral symmetry the first few segments are modified into a wide range of feeding apparatus for sucking up sediment filtering water or ripping up
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