George Navarro
Coral Reefs: Cycle A
Once again, I must admit that I do not know much about coral reefs, their ecology
and current condition. However I am prepared to make inductive and deductive
inferences based on my knowledge.
If one thinks about any ecological system, we can reasonably conclude that
certain conditions must exist to make the environment favorable for living. Some
conditions may include adequate temperature, sunlight, PH, salinity, predator/prey
balances and food availability. Looking at coral reef ecology through lenses in terms of
geological spheres may shed some light on what is going on.
From reading the scenario provided from this unit I have ascertained that coral
reefers need: shallow clear water, warm water temperatures, adequate levels of salinity,
sunlight, and an established symbiotic balance with algae. In terms of the effects that the
lithosphere may have on the coral reefs, I feel that it is reasonable to postulate that river
run off may influence the survivability of coral communities. As the soil is disturbed on
the coast line of a near by continent, due to human activity or natural occurrences, the
sediment and particulate would make its way into converging streams that would
eventually feed into shallow coastal waters. These particulates would then hinder the
clarity of the water hence blocking out the sunlight that coral and their symbiotic algae
need to thrive. The particulates in the water may also change the salinity and pH which
would further lower the ideal quality of the waters. This change in water quality due to
run off would in turn indirectly effect the hydrosphere in terms of water quality needed
by the coral and associated sea life. Such changes in water characteristics would then
directly affect the coral reef. The damage to the coral reef would then indirectly affect
the plant and animal communities that rely on the coral reef for protection and a growing
substrate. In respect to how the atmosphere is involved; I’d have to guess that it comes
into play in the form of global warming. Global warming indirectly affects the changing
atmospheric temperatures that are causing polar ice caps and glacial bodies to melt. The
changing temperatures then alter the shallow coastal depths needed by coral reefs to live.
What components of the lithosphere directly affect coral reefs (i.e. calcium carbonate
deposits, river run off in the form of silt, clay, sand and soil particulates, etc.)?
Is the earth’s crust under the sea considered part of the lithosphere?
How does the dead and decaying matter that the coral reef leaves behind affect the water
environment?
Does the coral reef make any major contributions to the state of the atmosphere and vise
versa?
Is denitrification a concern or factor in the shallow waters needed by coral reefs?
Is denirification a process associated with the atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere or all
three?