Coral Reefs Ecosystem

Coral Reef Ecosystem

Coral Reef ecosystem is known as the rainforests of the sea. Coral reefs have the most varied ecosystem in the planet. Coral Reefs are made of calcium carbonate and have tiny living animals in it. Biotic is the living part of a coral reef and it also made of abiotic factors such as sunlight, soil, water, temperature and the waves action. The shape, size, and composition of Coral reefs depend on the combination of the abiotic and biotic factors.

Corals are made of delicate structures which are made of thousands of tiny slow growing animals called polyps. These polyps secrete a calcareous exoskeleton. There are massive reef formations made of colonies of thousands of coral polyps. Many of these corals take up to a year to grow one inch, and they also grow new colonies on top of the older skeletons.

The location of Coral Reefs is mostly located in the Caribbean islands and around the world but the Florida Keys is the most recognized. Florida has more of 120 miles of coral reefs on its coast. These coral reefs are nature habitat for amazing fishes, aquatic plants, sea creatures, wild dolphins and food that we consume such as calm, shrimps, lobsters, grouper, snappers which all live around the coral reefs. The Florida Keys are the most visit area in the world by scuba divers, and snorkelers because of the beauty of the coral reefs, and also for fisherman’s because they provide and protect structure, habitat, bait, hunting and breeding grounds for many of the Florida saltwater food and game fish.

Abiotic and biotic are components of particular ecosystem which is an organization of the structure of an ecosystem. The affect of an ecosystem have non living chemical and physical factors and are components of Abiotic. Plants and different animals live in the ocean near the coral reefs and can affected ecosystem by living factors components of Biotic. Most of the ocean animals and species are supported by the coral reefs in the ecosystem. The coral reefs ecosystems must be healthy because it is important to humans, fish, plants, and other organisms. The corals ecosystem can be endangered due to the changes in climate and human activities. There are different causes that can threaten the survival of the coral ecosystems around the globe such as pollution, habitat loss, invasive species and diseases. Corals can be fragile and vulnerable even if it has a sturdy appearance.

An ecosystem functions is to keep its components to work together. Biodiversity and stability is main drive of the