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[Thematic report]: The life of corals |
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by Oksana Zavaliy | 20-06-2020 17:39
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Not many people know that but corals actually belong to a class of animals. They are related to sea anemones and have a similar structure to them: they consist of a polyp, which is like a tin with one end open, and tentacles. They are located rather close to the surface of the water so corals get most nutrients from photosynthesis. However, their tentacles are poisonous and are used to catch zooplankton.
Corals can live separately but more often they form reefs. Coral reefs take up a tiny fraction of the ocean's bottom but are responsible for a wide diversity of fishes. Researches show that the amount of live coral cover produces significant changes in species richness and abundance of fishes. Many fishes use corals to hide from predators, procreate, feed. It is estimated that corals support 25% of all marine creatures so extinction of corals can lead to horrendous consequences. The biggest threat to corals is coral bleaching. Bleaching is a stress reaction which causes the pigmented symbiotic microalgae to be expelled, leaving the animals' tissue white or pale. The coral reef becomes uninhabitable. The main cause of stress for corals is the warming of ocean water. Other factors include ocean acidification, pollution, overfishing and destructive fishing. The first mass bleaching event caused by thermal anomalies was recorded in 1998. The sea surface temperatures throughout the tropical Pacific, Indian and Atalantic Oceans dramatically increased which destroyed 16% of coral reefs around the world. In the Indian Ocean around 46% of coral cover was destroyed. Since then, 4 more mass bleaching events took place with 3 of them happening in the past 5 years. Corals are an important part of the ocean; they form irreplaceable ecosystems that a great number of fishes rely on. Mass bleaching events are becoming more and more frequent so we must keep the temperature rise below 1.5C otherwise we can lose some of the most beautiful places that the ocean has to offer. Sources:
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4 Comments
Hello Oksana
Greetings and Namaste from Nepal
Wishing you a safe stay
Thank you for your report on The life of corals
Keep writing great reports.
We are eager to read more reports from you.
Green Cheers :)
Best wishes,
Kushal Naharki
Posted 14-07-2020 10:29
Hello Oksana Zavaliy, this is mentor Taehyun!
I think it's been revealed a lot recently that coral is environmentally sensitive. Previously, coral studies were not very active, and even if they were, they were carried out as a mechanism for life activities of coral, but now it has been discovered that coral acts as a signal light for the marine environment. So coral is environmentally sensitive, and it's a creature that can warn us every time we destroy it.
Thank you for the report!
Green cheers!
Posted 01-07-2020 01:58
Hi Oksana Zavaliy, this is a mentor, Sang Su Lee.
It's true that many people perceive coral reef as a plant, not an animal. Even I thought that coral reef is a plant until I read your article. Indeed coral reef bleaching has been a significant problem for the marine ecosystem because it is a habitat for a myriad of marine animals. The main reason why bleaching is occurring is because of global warming. CO2 acidifies the ocean and this prevents calcification of coral reef.
I hope people endeavor hard to prevent such phenomena... In fact, watching beautiful coral reef also heals humans.
Thank you for your report!~ Green Cheers~!
Posted 01-07-2020 01:56
Thank your for your report!!
Posted 21-06-2020 18:15