http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm
Summary:
The tissues of corals themselves are actually not the
beautiful colors of the coral reef, but are instead clear. The corals receive
their coloration from the zooxanthellae living within their tissues. Coral reef
bleaching is a common stress response of corals. If the stress-causing
bleaching is not too severe and if it decreases in time, the affected corals
usually regain their symbiotic algae within several weeks or a few months. If
zooxanthellae loss is prolonged, i.e. if the stress continues and depleted
zooxanthellae populations do not recover, the coral host eventually dies. Beginning
in the 1980s, the frequency and widespread distribution of reported coral reef bleaching
events increased. Widespread bleaching, involving major coral reef regions and
resulting in mass coral mortality has raised concerns about linkage of the
events to global phenomenons including global warming or climate change and increased
UV radiation from ozone depletion.
Opinion/Reflection:
It was interesting to find out that the coral isn’t originally
brightly colored. It’s also very sad that coral reefs are losing the nutrients
and eventually dying due to stress. It would be a shame to lose what is
considered the “rainforest of the ocean” due to its high biodiversity.
Questions:
What could help reduce stress levels of the coral?
How could humans help?
Why should humans care
about coral reef bleaching?
Opinion/New Question:
ReplyDeleteThe issue of coral reef bleaching is a sad truth. A few months ago, I watched a documentary which illustrated the human impacts on the world’s coral reefs. Bleaching was one on their larger topics. Although I don’t remember specific details of the documentary, I remember that pollution was a large cause of reef bleaching and that the bleached and dead areas are growing. I believe this is an upsetting issue because the beautiful reefs people wish to see someday are disappearing and we are to blame. I knew nothing about the zooxanthellae and Abby explained them well. In class we have spoken briefly about pollution in our water and we have spend a great deal of time learning about biodiversity and its importance. I knew previously that coral reefs had an extremely high biodiversity and biodiversity helps protect an area from disaster, yet the reefs cannot compete with human pollution. I hope for the sake of the fish who live there and the humans who enjoy them that the coral reefs are saved from bleaching and a solution is soon found.
1) Do you think that coral reef bleaching is linked to things like global warming and climate change? If so, how?
2) What could happen if all the reefs disappear (what is the importance of coral reefs)?
3) Why do you think reef bleaching increased in the 1980’s, what may have changed to cause this?
This week, I decided that it would be a great idea to invite Mr. Michael P. Lesser after coming across his article that relates to Abby's topic of coral bleaching and the environment. Mr. Lesser works for the Department of Zoology and Center for Marine Biology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, so I thought that it would be perfect to invite him since he has a career in the field of marine biology. Here is the E-Mail I sent Mr. Lesser inviting him to visit our blog:
ReplyDeleteHello Mr. Lesser,
My name is Catherine, and I am a freshman attending high school and currently taking an Environmental Sciences course in which we are currently studying water and the marine life that inhabit it. For this semester, it has been a project of ours to work with groups to create a blog dedicated to science, where we find articles that pertain to our curriculum and analyze them, sharing our opinions and asking questions on these topics. One of the components of running these blogs is to invite a professional who might be interested in commenting on recent posts and informing us even more about the latest topics that we have analyzed. This week, a fellow group member of mine posted about an article that focused on coral reef bleaching. After I came across your article, "Coral reef bleaching and climate change: Can corals survive the next century", I thought that it would be a great idea to invite you to check out our blog and perhaps comment on our post, further informing us about the causes and effects of coral bleaching. I know that my fellow group members and I would be so glad to hear from you and that it would be an awesome opportunity to learn from a professional! Our blog is called the Golden Girls Science blog, and here is the link to our site:
http://goldengirlsscienceblog.blogspot.com/
Thank you for your time, and we hope to hear from you!
Sincerely,
Catherine
Dear Catherine and friends, Thanx for inviting me to join your blog on environmental issues! As you already know I've spent most of my professional career studying coral reefs and coral bleaching in particular. There is no doubt that coral reefs are the most threatened ecosystem on the planet and the combined effects of eutrophication, over fishing and climate change (i.e., thermal stress and ocean acidification) are having a devastating effect on coral reef communities. In particular, Caribbean coral reefs are some of the most heavily impacted in the world. Whether these reefs can recover is unknown but it will require significant changes related to the use of fossil fuel in order to reduce the effects of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We know what to do but have yet to show that we are willing to do the hard work. Difficult choices lie ahead for all of us. Keep up the great work. Cheers, Michael
ReplyDeleteAnswer the Questions:
ReplyDelete1. What could help reduce stress levels of the coral?
The stress is caused by pollution, ship damage, over-fishing, and other unnatural occurrences. The only way to reduce the stress is to stop those things from happening.
2. What can humans do to hep?
We could continue the efforts to stop pollution. We could also find ways to stop ship damage and over-fishing. Another option is to find more of the corals stressors and try to solve the problems.
3. Why should humans care about coral reef bleaching?
For starters, I was not even aware that coral is not naturally brightly colored. So, maybe just educating people on this issue would spark ideas on ways to help. We should care more about it because it is the type of environmental issue that could be stopped early on instead of waiting until it is too late. It is our fault that the reefs are dying, so we should try our best to create a solution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEdoizgeNJk
ReplyDeleteAbove is the link for a video that I found on Coral Bleaching. It is a little silly, but I believe that it did a good job getting the message across about how humans are affecting the coral reef. It defiantly will make me think twice about forgetting to turning off a light thinking about how I may be affecting the coral. It is amazing how people can change the lives of living things even being so far away!