As a conclusion to the articles about coral reefs I have added a gallery with coral photos. The photos are taken in Similan and Surin Islands and show how amazing corals can be.
This is the final part of the introduction to coral reefs.
General
Little is known about the coral reefs that can be found in Scandinavian waters. They normally live at great depths but can at some places be found as shallow as 40 meters (the Trondheim fiord). Although several types of coral exists in cold waters, only [...]
This is part 6 of the essay about coral reefs.
Tropical storms
Tropical storms are the perhaps largest source of massive reef mortality. Hurricanes may mechanically destroy large areas of a reef, which is a major problem since most reefs are located in areas frequently traversed by typhoons or hurricanes.
Crown of thorns – Acanthaster planci
The sea star [...]
This is part 5 of the essay about coral reefs.
The number of fish species that can be found on coral reefs exceeds all other environments on earth and most of them are also brilliantly coloured. Reef areas in the Philippines have the greatest number of species, over 2000. As for coral, the numbers of species [...]
This is part 4 of the essay about coral reefs.
Competition
The coral reefs are generally no open space at all. Coral or algae cover every single area. This results, of course, in fierce competition. Generally speaking there are two types of competition, exploitative competition and interference competition.
Exploitative competition is in general for fast growing corals such [...]
This is part 3 of the essay about coral reefs.
Nutrition
Coral reefs require lots of nourishment, which means that the surrounding ocean is notoriously poor in plankton. Some corals use their ciliary mucous mechanism for capturing plankton but the most common is to snare them directly with the tentacles.
Plankton can, however, not support an entire reef. [...]
This is part 2 of the essay about coral reefs.
Tropical coral reefs occupy about 0,17% of the total area of the planet. It has been estimated that 4-5% (91000) of all living species are found on coral reefs (Karlson, 1999). About half the calcium that enters the world’s oceans every year is taken up and [...]
This is an essay I wrote a few years ago when studying marine biology at the university. It is divided in 7 parts and are ideally read in order. This is the first section.
Overview
Coral reefs demonstrate one of the most attractive marine environments for humans visiting sea while scuba diving. The diversity of life is truly [...]
The environment in the Mediteranean Sea is unique. The geography of it has created conditions that have developed over millions of years into what we have today – a unique and fragile environment.First time visitors to the Mediterranean are sometimes surprised when they have a first look under the surface. It does not look like [...]
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