Ecology HW 9.1 Communities Essay
Ecology HW 9.1 Communities Essay
Ecology HW 9.1 Communities Essay
1: Communities Essay
The great barrier reef is a popular tourist attraction, but it is also a thriving and beautiful
community. It is the largest coral reef in the world, with over 3,000 individual reef systems and
coral rays. It has an abundance of marine life and is home to several tropical islands. Found off
the northeastern coast of Australia, it extends more than 1,250 miles which is fairly equally
The great barrier reef in an aquatic habitat. It is home to nearly 9,000 species of countable
marine life, including soft coral, sharks, fish, and marine mammals like whales, dolphins, and
seals. The coral reefs themselves require a certain set of circumstances in order to form. They
require a specific water chemistry, temperature, and water depth. The majority of reef builders
prefer shallow waters, where there is enough sunlight to enable photosynthesis of the algae there.
The reef begins when coral larvae floating in the ocean attach themselves to something solid.
The coral animals build their skeletons, which over time cement together to form large deposits
of limestone. There are three types of structure when it comes to coral reefs. One is fringing
reefs, which form close to the shore. Second are barrier reefs, which are stronger and more
substantial and are located further from the shore. Finally, the third atolls, which put simply are
fringing reefs that formed around an island and stayed after the island became submerged.
There are many different relationships among the vast wildlife found in the great barrier
reef. Predation relationships are found between the sharks and fish, as sharks feed of off their
prey: fish. There are also herbivory relationships found among the fish who feed off of aquatic
plants. Clownfish, for example, are omnivores, and thus feed of off small life like algae,
zooplankton, worms, and small crustaceans. Another type of relationship that can be found in the
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coral reef is parasites. There are many parasites in the great barrier reef, but one such parasite are
the trematodes, which occur as sexually mature worms in almost all of the body fish species.
Finally, there are many mutualistic relationships among the great barrier reef, include the
relationships between the algae and the corals. The corals protect the algae and provide the
compounds needed for photosynthesis, and the algae produce oxygen and help the coral remove
waste.
There are many dangers to the great barrier reef, but naturally occurring and due to
human influence. The greatest threat to the great barrier reef is climate change. As
aforementioned, coral reefs require a specific climate to grow. Climate change affects the
temperature of the water, making coral unable to be produced. Water quality is also detrimental
due to climate change, as an increase in sediment, contaminants and nutrients affects the acidity
and community there. Another danger to the great barrier reef is the crown of thorns starfish,
which are coral-eating starfish that outbreak quickly. Finally, fishing is another danger to this
great reef, as overfishing causes the delicate balance found there to shift.
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Works Cited
2021.
Cribb, T. H. (2014, October 15). Trematodes of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: emerging
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25200353/
https://www.science.org.au/curious/great-barrier-reef
Great Barrier Reef | Australia’s Great Natural Wonder. (2020, March 31). Great Barrier Reef.
https://greatbarrierreef.org/
Nanami, A. (2003, October 1). Population Dynamics and Spatial Distribution of. . .
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:EBFI.0000003799.77382.de?
error=cookies_not_supported&code=88b162f9-1f44-43f6-bc28-f86b8d632711
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_corals/coral02_zooxanthellae.html#:
%7E:text=The%20corals%20and%20algae%20have,the%20coral%20to%20remove
%20wastes.
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