Coral reefs are a widespread habitat
strung along the world's tropical belt.
Immensely diverse, they're home to the
greatest densities of animal life in the
world.
Coral Reef
By: Touqa
http://www.brecorder.com/images/pic2012/09/
Coral%20reefs.jpg
Where are coral reefs located?
 Coral reefs are found around
the globe in warm waters.
Corals can not stand
temperatures that drop much
below an average temperature
of 18°C. This limits their
habitat to waters between
23°N and 23°S latitude. But,
while latitude is important, so
too is the current.
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002237/media/bigphotos/map.gif
Animals At The Coral Reef
How do animals Adapt
 It is easy for fish and animals
to adapt at the coral reefs
because the plants help them
camouflage because of there
color, for example the
clownfish hide in the sea
anemones because clownfish
is orange and the sea
anemones are orange.
http://www.fantomxp.com/wp_11__Coral_reef_life_Fish_wallpapers.html
Dwarf Minke Whales
 Dwarf minke whales gather
http://www.reef.crc.org.au/publications/explore/images/minke.j
pg
in the Coral Reefs every
June and July. They are
baleen whales which means
they feed on tiny plankton
and krill through comb-like
plates on their upper jaws.
Even chasing schools of
Sandrine's, anchovies, cod
herring and capelin
Dugongs
 Dugongs grow to about 3m
long, can weigh 400 kg and
live to 70 years old.
Dugongs are more closely
related to elephants than
they are to other marine
mammals such as whales
or dolphins. Dugongs eat
sea grass, and actually
'farm' tasty types of sea
grass by cropping their
preferred plants.
http://www.justanotherhacker.com/dugong.jpg
Sea Snakes
 It is said that sea snakes can
open there mouths to bite a
mans thigh, but sea snakes
are not aggressive and don’t
do any damage anyone, they
adapt to the coral reefs by
having modified lungs to help
them stay under water for 2
hours but they have to come
up to the surface to breath.
Sea snakes usually eat
shallow fish, fish eggs and
eels.
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oral_Reef_Picture_Stock_Photo_120101-215638-309001.jpg
Sea Turtles
 Seven species of Sea Turtles can be found at the Coral Reef.

Green

Leatherback

Hawksbill

Loggerhead

Flat back

Olive Ridely

Sea turtles come in different shapes colors and sizes, while the olive ridely weighs 100 pounds the leatherback
typically can weigh up to 650-1,300 pounds! See turtles can swim fast, very fast which can help them swim
away from predators. But sea turtles are slow and vulnerable on land. But there adaptations doesn’t guarantee
there survival because of the humans interfering.
Humpback whales
 Humpback whales pass by
the coral reef every year,
they are the fifth largest
animal in the world, as big
as 600 people. Humpback
whales usually survive the
coldness because of the fat
layer of skin called blubber.
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/jtw262/jtw2621012/jt
w262101200001/8399368-humpback-whale-migratingaustralia.jpg
Plants At the Coral Reef
 Coralline algae
 Sea Anemones
 carbonate (limestone)
 Sea grasses
 Giant clams
http://mairamar1992.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/coral_reef1.jpg
Coralline algae
 Coralline algae are made up
of masses of very fine threadlike filaments, that spread out
in thin layers over the reef
rock surface. These filaments
produce calcium carbonate
thus giving the algae an
appearance more like a rock
than a plant. The encrusting
filaments trap sediments of
sand, as well cement the
particles of sand together.
plus coralline algae help to
stabilize the coral reef
structure.
http://raptureofthedeep.org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/10/coralline_algae.jpg
Sea Anemones
 Sea anemones usually
don’t move but when they
have the ability to move
about 3-4 inches an hour or
it rides on top of a hermit
crab which helps it move
and the hermit crab is a
crazy eater so the sea
anemones collect food for
it. A hermit crab can be
between 5-17 cm at least
as big as a cup.
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/anemone.html
Carbonate (Limestone)
 carbonate (limestone).
When these algae die, the
limestone remains
produce sand. One type
calcareous algae known as
Halimeda produces about
fifty percent of the sand
found on some of our
beaches in the Caribbean.
http://geology.com/rocks/pictures/coral-reef-underwater.jpg
Sea Grasses
 Sea grasses are different
to seaweeds and algae
because they have true
roots and are flowering
plants. Sea grasses are the
only flowering plants in the
sea. They are important
food for
turtles and dugongs.
Giant Clams
 Giant clams can grow to be
more than 1 metre long and
can be at least 70 years old.
They are the largest bivalve
mollusk that has ever existed
on the planet. Most giant
clams are simultaneous
hermaphrodites The largest
pearl in the world was found
in a giant clam and sold in
New York for about $10
million.
http://www.itsnature.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/giant-clam2.jpg
Abiotic
 How much rainfall does the coral
reefs get in a year?
 Every reef gets a different amount
of rain. You have South
Pacific reefs, Hawaiian reefs, more
northerly reefs of the HawaiianEmperor Seamount range, even
reefs in the Caribbean. They all get
different amounts of rainfall. What
they want is warm salt water, good
currents (but not too heavy), and
access to a lot of sunlight.
But, just for Australia's Great
Barrier Reef, it gets about 2 m (79
in) per year.
 The temperature at the coral reef?
 There are different temperatures
in different places in the coral
reefs.
Coral reefs live in warm, shallow
waters near the edge of land. Since
they don't tend to live in waters
colder than 18 degrees Celsius,
coral reefs generally form in
between 23 degrees north latitude
and 23 degrees south latitude.
Abiotic
 Coral reefs thrive in water temperatures of 77° to 84° Fahrenheit (
25° and 29° Celsius ). Certain corals have evolved to survive outside
this temperature range such as ahermatypic corals. (see Adaptations
and Relationships) The types of corals you find in the Great Barrier
Reef are hermatypic corals- meaning they contain zooxanthellae
algae and are colorful. These corals can survive in the reef's ranging
water temperatures of 64 - 91° Fahrenheit (18-33° Celsius),
Temperature- Coral reefs thrive in water temperatures of 77° to 84°
Fahrenheit ( 25° and 29° Celsius ). Certain corals have evolved to
survive outside this temperature range such as ahermatypic corals.
(see Adaptations and Relationships) The types of corals you find in
the Great Barrier Reef are hermatypic corals- meaning they contain
zooxanthellae algae and are colorful. These corals can survive in the
reef's ranging water temperatures of 64 - 91° Fahrenheit (18-33°
Celsius)



Abiotic
 Nutrients - Corals survive only
in clear water, without much
sediment, where light can
breach the surface of the
water. Since there isn't much
debris floating around, the
water is usually low in
nutrients. These waters would
not naturally have many
animals living in them because
of the lack of nutrients, but
since corals live here, many
thousands of animals survive
by eating either the coral, or
the animals that eat the coral.
 Light- Light is incredibly
important for coral reefs. The
reason corals are able to
survive in such nonnutritious water is because of
the zooxanthellae algae
produces food for the coral
as well as itself. In order to
photosynthesize to produce
food however, the algae needs
light. Without light, this
ecosystem cannot exist.
How Do Humans Effect Coral Reefs
 Coral reefs are very fragile, and
unfortunately, people have had a
bad influence on them. People
sometimes step on them while
snorkeling, damaging their
structure. But they are also very
sensitive for water
temperature and pollution. Due
to global warming, seawater
temperatures are going up this is
a big problem because coral
reefs cannot handle
temperatures above 18 degrees
Celsius, and pollution is also a big
problem all over the world.
http://www.scienceclarified.com/photos/coral-reef-3122.jpg
What can be Done to Protect the Coral Reef
Protect
The coral
Reefs
 Follow the three R’s:
Reduce, reuse and
recycle
 When scuba divers
dive they shouldn’t
touch anything
 Keep the
environment clean
don’t pollute
 And last but most
importantly SPREAD
THE WORD.
Bibliography
 Answers.com (n.d.) How does humpback whale adapt to its
environment?. [online] Available at:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_humpback_whale_adapt_to_
its_environment [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].
 Library.thinkquest.org (n.d.) Sea Anemones. [online] Available at:
http://library.thinkquest.org/J001418/anemone.html [Accessed: 14
Jan 2013].

 Answers.yahoo.com (2010) how do people affect coral reefs?. [online]
Available at:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110324182441AAc
nYnq [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].
Bibliography

Thewildclassroom.com (2003) Coral
Reef Biome. [online] Available at:
http://www.thewildclassroom.com/bio
mes/coralreef.html [Accessed: 9 Jan
2013].




EHow (2001) How Coral Reef Animals
Adapt to Their Habitat. [online]
Available at:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5589055_
coral-reef-animals-adapt-habitat.html
[Accessed: 10 Jan 2013].



Enchantedlearning.com (2010) MINKE
WHALE. [online] Available at:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/su
bjects/whales/species/Minke.shtml
[Accessed: 13 Jan 2013].
Reef.crc.org.au (n.d.) Reef Facts - Plants
and Animals. [online] Available at:
http://www.reef.crc.org.au/discover/pla
ntsanimals/facts_plantanimal.htm
[Accessed: 13 Jan 2013].
 Cotf.edu (2004) Coral Reefs.
[online] Available at:
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/
coralreef/CRcoralreefs.html
[Accessed: 13 Jan 2013].
 Library.thinkquest.org
(1998) Poisonous Animals: Sea
snake (Hydrophiidae). [online]
Available at:
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0079
74/2_3sea.htm [Accessed: 13 Jan
2013].

 Answers.com (n.d.) How do fish
adapt to the coral reef ecosystem?.
[online] Available at:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_d
o_fish_adapt_to_the_coral_reef_e
cosystem# [Accessed: 13 Jan
2013].


Spressivo.com (n.d.) New Page 1.
[online] Available at:
http://spressivo.com/isa/coralreef/
abiotic.htm [Accessed: 15 Jan
2013].
Thank You
Thanks for
watching
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hank+You+(86).gif