The Fate of the Coral Reefs Global Warming’s Effect on Ocean Ecosystem By: Pat Wise www.divegallery.com http://liveandletdive.googlepages.com/dreamstimeweb_7417461_reef.JPG/dreamsti meweb_7417461_reef-full.jpg http://spyspider.com/skull_and_cros sbones.png http://www.australiaone.com.au/images /public/Great-Barrier-Reef-QLD.jpg What is Coral Mate? Phylum - Cnidaria Class - Anthozoa Reef building secrete CaCO3 skeletons Neritic Zone of Ocean (Shallow) Sunlight and warm water! Cnidocytes http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Coral/sciclasscr.html Sweet Place to Live Home to 9 million Species Maximum Production! One of Four Sick Hiding Spots www.apple.com Symbiosis WOAH! Awesome! Photosynthetic Dinoflagellates Zooxantheallae – Nitrogenous waste, CO2, and a Home Coral – Photosynthetic capability and increased CaCO3 production Pigmented algae produce colorful coral http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/st udents/coral/coral3.htm http://animals.nationalgeog raphic.com/animals/photos/ corals.html Global Warming (In Case You Forgot) http://www.younggreens.ie/main/?p=89 Coral Bleaching… Not Cool Increased Water Temperature Zooxantheallae don’t pull their weight Algae expelled from Coral Leaves white coral behind www.abc.net.au/reslib/ 200704/r135574_457949.jpg Coral Bleaching… is Ugly Coral Death leads to algae and soft coral overgrowth Marine “Weeds” www.gbrmpa.gov.au http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/image_full/internation al/photosvideos/photos/bleached-coral-great-barrier Damage Done – Great Barrier Reef 42% of Great Barrier Reef bleached in 1998 18% suffered permanent damage El Niño in 2002 warmed water temperatures affecting 60% of GBR Killed 90% of reef forming corals on some inshore reefs Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (1999). Climate Change, Coral Bleaching and the Future of the World's Coral Reefs. Mar. Freshw. Res. The Future CO2 increases will lead to further water temp. increases Dr. Terry Done – “1° increase in global temperature = 82% reef bleaching, 2° increase = 97%, 3° = Total devastation” Graph – Temp increase/bleaching threshold vs. Time Increasing CO2 levels in ocean (acidification) hurts coral’s ability to generate CaC)3 reef structures. http://www.sciencemag.org/ Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (1999). Climate Change, Coral Bleaching and the Future of the World's Coral Reefs. Mar. Freshw. Res. Effects on Fish Lose Habitat Massive Extinctions Gobiodon Species C Biodiversity Loss Food Production www.mahonia.org Red Tides 1998 El Niño results in massive burning of Indonesian Rainforests Iron rich smog develops Toxin producing Dinoflagellates (red in color) produce red tide Devastating effect – carcinogens (Karenia brevis) wildcoast.blog.com Red Tides… Even Worse 2002 – El Niño produces smog over Southeast Asia Size of the United States Cut sunlight by 10% Heated lower atmosphere and Ocean Hundreds of Millions of dollars worth of aquaculture damaged Southeastern Coral Reefs may be permanently damaged A New Hope? Symbiodinium 50/400 = F No Complexity Migration To Where? Google.images.com What to Do??? Lower CO2 Emissions Stop Overfishing Protect Reefs from non-water warming harm (Tourism, Boating, Overfishing) Stop El Niño! More Simple Solutions Turn off the Lights! Eat less meat Turn down your thermostat Use electricity over natural gas Use the fireplace! Ride your bike Make daily sacrifices to Gukumatz (Very Important) http://www.yovendomicasa.es/im ages/dibujoserpientecols2.jpg Hughes, T.P. et al. 2003. Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs. Science 301, pp. 929-33 Freeman, Scott. Biological Science. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2004. Flannery, Tim. The Weather Makers, Our Changing Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2005. 104-13. Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (1999). Climate Change, Coral Bleaching and the Future of the World's Coral Reefs. Mar. Freshw. Res. Donner, S., Skirving, W. J., Little, C. M., Oppenheimer, M. and Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2005). Global assessment of coral bleaching and required rates of adaptation under climate change. Glob. Chan. Biol. "Garden Sprinklers May Save Reef from Bleaching." ABC News. 15 June 2007. ABC. 10 Nov. 2008 <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/15/1951896.htm Facebook.com