Objective 1 Introduction to biology of coral reefs In what ways are coral reefs extreme How are they important to humans Large enough to be seen from space largest structures ever built by living organisms Biological diversity is larger than in any other marine system The complexity of interactions among organisms is extreme each species plays its own role and all are in a web of interdependencies Coral reefs are aesthetically extreme with many corals of all colors shapes and sizes The rock like skeletons of the corals protect coastlines from damage by storm waves Fish lobsters octopus shellfish and other things such as pearls and coral aquarium fish find shelter in the reefs Many reefs can be pharmaceutically useful and chunks of coral limestone can be used for building materials Coral reefs also contribute to tourism What are the environmental requirements of corals and how do they constrain the geographic distribution of reefs built by corals Why can corals be considered part animal part plant and part rock Coral reefs need warm water sunlight shallow bottoms clear water normal salinity away from rivers and moderate water movement Coral reefs grow along about 1 3 of tropical coasts Rock The skeletons of corals are as solid as rocks and are made of calcium carbonate like limestone Plant Zooxanthellae Animal cnidarians What other animals are closely related to corals and what characteristics do they share Corals are cnidarians related to jellyfish anemones and hydras All cnidarians are constructed on a basic sac like design with a mouth that is ringed by tentacles armed with nematocysts to sting predators and prey What are the 2 ways in which reef building corals acquire food and what is their relative importance to the corals Corals use their tentacles to capture plankton Zooxanthellae or microscopic plants live in the coral tissue produce food from photosynthesis and make it easier for the coral to deposit calcium carbonate in its skeleton How does living as a colony influence patterns of growth and possibilities for overall shape As they grow corals build calcium carbonate skeletons in which each polyp creates a corallite for its tentacles As the surface area of the colony increases more polyps are required to cover it Food collected by one polyp is shared with the others as well as nervous impulses Polyps coordinate themselves to build the colony shape that is typical for their species What are the stages of the coral life cycle both sexual and asexual Corals of all species release sperm into the water Sexual Sperm are taken in by female colonies fertilizing eggs that stay in the female polyps until they are ready Spawning simultaneous release of eggs and sperm into the water Asexual hermaphrodites both male and female gametes are produced by the same colony Asexual propagation growth by building of polyps to produce more polyps If a piece of a coral is broken off it grows back Objective 2 Diversity of life on coral reefs How does species diversity on coral reefs compare with that of other ecosystems How is information about the many tens of thousands of species that live on reefs organized so we can readily retrieve it More diverse than any other exosystem An internationally used hierarchical system of categories based on evolutionary relationships among organisms Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species What characteristics contribute to the most fundamental division of life into prokaryotes and eukaryotes Prokaryotes are very small and do not form multicellular organisms Eukaryote cells are much larger and more complex Cyanobacteria are important because of their contribution to primary production generation of sugars and oxygen by photosynthesis How are the four kingdoms of eukaryotes distinguished from each other What is the importance of the Cyanobacteria to coral reefs Kingdom Protista consist of only a single cell Can be either predatory or photosynthetic Kingdom Plantae Green pigment from chlorophyll Kingdom Animalia multicellular organisms that are unable to manufacture their own food by photosynthesis What are the important differences among the photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms division Dinoflageliida in the kingdom Protista and all divisions in the kingdom Plantae in where they live in the sea and how they acquire nutrients Dinoflagellates are single celled photosynthetic organisms that live suspended in warm seawater Kingdom Plantae organisms are able to collect energy from sunlight to make energy rich sugar molecules and oxygen Phylum Porifera sponges masses of gel material What are the chief distinguishing characteristics of each of the six phyla of invertebrate animals and the phylum with both invertebrate and vertebrate animals that are conspicuously represented on coral reefs in for example symmetry appendages skeletons or other structural support and adaptations for acquiring food What variations on their basic body plan have evolved in each of these phyla Objective 3 Food on coral reefs What are some of the different strategies used on coral reefs by swimming of drifting predators and by bottom dwelling predators to capture and consume animals How do various coral reef herbivores feed Sharks cruise past barracudas hang around groupers lurk in caves and crevices snappers poke around schools of fish Some have body shapes that can allow them to avoid stings or to poke into tiny holes Many herbivore just rely on eating huge amounts of food to get nutrients almost 10 times as much as predatory fish in order to get the same amount of nitrogen How to filter feeding deposit feeding and symbiotic microbes work as food gathering mechanisms and which organisms feed in these ways Filter feeding corals sponges scallops clams anchovies sardines and oysters Corals capture zooplankton from the water and stuff them into their mouths Sponges pump water through their body and remove the plankton Deposit Feeding Echinoderms sea urchins and sand dollars Feeding on organic detritus deposited in the bottom sediments Organisms ingest the organic portions and poop out the rest Symbiotic Microbes Clams sea anemones many fish and more Living together with another species that provides you with nutrients What defenses against being eaten have been developed by coral reef animals and plants Animals deterrent morphology such as spines spicules and thick shells Toxic excretions confusing predators with clouds of ink avoiding predators flying out of the water Plants
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