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Tropical Reefs: Coral/Algal

Tropical Reefs: Coral/Algal. Diversity and Challenges. Questions:. Why are tropical reefs comparable to rain forests in diversity? Dissolved nutrients are scarce Productivity & diversity normally go together Why are tropical reefs disappearing?. Increasing threats to coral.

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Tropical Reefs: Coral/Algal

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  1. Tropical Reefs: Coral/Algal Diversity and Challenges

  2. Questions: • Why are tropical reefs comparable to rain forests in diversity? • Dissolved nutrients are scarce • Productivity & diversity normally go together • Why are tropical reefs disappearing?

  3. Increasing threats to coral

  4. Current bleaching threats

  5. What are the challenges? • Low nutrients dissolved in water • Shallow habitats mean more intense wave action • Long-term: sea level changes

  6. Tropical reefs are geologically important

  7. Reef ecology has long challenged biologists

  8. Dominant reef-building organisms • Small individuals, magnified in effect by large numbers • Phylum Cnidaria • Class Anthozoa • Subclass Zoantheria • Diverse algae, depositing CaCO3

  9. Cnidaria polyps: radial symmetry

  10. Cnidaria: tentacles for feeding

  11. Cnidaria: stinging cells on tentacles

  12. Not all corals deposit CaCO3

  13. “Hermatypic” corals create reefs in symbiosis with Symbiodinium

  14. Growth forms of colonies reflect tradeoffs • Access to light for symbiotic algae • Issues of depth (growth upward) • Issues of competition (shading) • Risk of damage from turbulence in shallow seas • Diverse growth forms reflect different balances

  15. Fast extension: linear growth form

  16. Extension + more surface area: branching

  17. Lattice: a subset of “branching” form

  18. Plate form: more resistant to turbulence

  19. Massive form: very wave-resistant

  20. Independent algae build reefs: crustose Algae can contribute a large fraction of reef mass

  21. Independent algae: Green (Halimeda)

  22. Reefs: a matrix of solid coral and sand

  23. Reef diversity – some examples

  24. Ecological functional groups

  25. A larger scale view: reef building process

  26. Atoll structure

  27. Habitat diversity within an atoll

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