How are coral reefs important to the environment?
The coral reef structure also buffers shorelines against waves, storms, and floods, helping to prevent loss of life, property damage, and erosion. Several million people live in U.S. coastal areas adjacent to or near coral reefs, and the well-being of their communities and economies is directly dependent on the health of nearby coral reefs.
Why is the Great Barrier Reef so important?
The reef plays an important role in the lives of these animals, and without it, they would not have a habitat. Interestingly, the Great Barrier Reef, and other coral reefs, actually serve as a form of protection for the coastline and surrounding communities.
Why is the pH in a reef tank so important?
Also a consistently low or consistently high pH will cause stress on corals and can even lead to coral death. Why It’s Important: Temperatures that are too high (above 81) or too low (below 75) are often referred to as the “silent killer” in a reef tank.
What happens if the water in a reef tank is not maintained?
What Happens If It’s Not Maintained: If the water in your tank becomes too hot, too cold, or if the temperatures fluctuates, corals will become stressed. If the water is cold for a period of time the corals will begin to slow their growth, or even stop growing. They may turn brown or could even become bleached.
Why is it important to protect coral reefs?
INCOME: Coral reefs provide a livelihood for millions of individuals in the tourism industry, including hotel workers, snorkel guides, dive guides and more. PROTECTION: They serve as natural marine barriers that protect coastal communities from high impact waves during tropical storms, hurricanes and tsunamis.
Why is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia declining?
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has declined by 50% since 1985, due to storm damage, coral bleaching and waves of crown-of-thorns starfish suffocating the coral. Warming ocean waters prevent corals laying down their calcium carbonate skeleton, which inhibits the growth essential for a healthy reef ecosystem.
How does the loss of coral reefs affect people?
The continued decline and loss of coral reef ecosystems will have significant social, cultural, economic and ecological impacts on people and communities in the U.S. and around the world.
Why are mangroves so important to coral reefs?
Mangroves are also one of the most sought after by some species of fish to come and lay their breeding juvenile ecosystems. The surface of coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific may also be the place of habitat of human cultures that have lived there for centuries.
