Coral reef
Low voltage electrical currents applied through seawater crystallizes dissolved minerals onto steel structures. The resultant white carbonate (aragonite) is the same mineral that makes up natural coral reefs. Corals rapidly colonize and grow at faster than normal rates onto these coated structures. The change in the environment produced by electrical currents also accelerates formation and growth of both chemical limestone rock and the skeletons of corals and other shell-bearing organisms. Within the vicinity of the anode and cathode is a high pH environment which inhibits the growth of filamentous and fleshy algae, which compete with coral for space. This, and the increased growth rates cease when the mineral accretion process stops.[36]
The effects of mineral accretion is, however, only temporary. During the process the settled corals have an increased growth rate, and size, and density, but after the process is complete the corallites are comparable to naturally growing corallites in growth rate and density, and are about the same size or slightly smaller.[37]
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Reefs in the past
Throughout the Earth history, from a few million years after hard skeletons were developed by marine organisms, there were almost always reefs formed by reef-building organisms in the ancient seas. The times of maximum development were in the Middle Cambrian (513-501 Ma), Devonian (416-359 My) and Carboniferous (359-299 Ma), due to Order Rugosa extinct corals, and Late Cretaceous (100-65 Ma) and all Neogene (23 Ma - present), due to Order Scleractinia corals.
Not all reefs in the past were formed by corals: in the Early Cambrian (542-513 Ma) resulted from calcareous algae and archaeocyathids (small animals with conical shape, probably related to sponges) and in the Late Cretaceous (100 -65 Ma), when there also existed reefs formed by a group of bivalves called rudists; one of the valves formed the main conical structure and the other, much smaller valve acted as a cap.
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See also
- Algae
- Black band disease
- Bruno Van Peteghem
- Coral
- Coral bleaching
- Coral rag
- Coral Reef Alliance
- Marine conservation
- Project AWARE
- Reef shark
- White band disease
[
References
- ^ Corals reveal impact of land use. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
- ^ Achituv, Y. and Dubinsky, Z. 1990. Evolution and Zoogeography of Coral Reefs. Ecosystems of the World. Vol. 25:1-8.
- ^ (2006) A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching. Townsville, Australia: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority,. 1 876945 40 0.
- ^ a b c d Spalding, Mark, Corinna Ravilious, and Edmund Green. 2001. World Atlas of Coral Reefs. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press and UNEP/WCMC.
- ^ a b Nybakken, James. 1997. Marine Biology: An Ecological Approach. 4th ed. Menlo Park, CA: Addison Wesley.
- ^ a b c Castro, Peter and Michael Huber. 2000. Marine Biology. 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
- ^ Sorokin, Y. I. Coral Reef Ecology. Germany. Sringer-Herlag, Berlin Heidelberg. 1993.
- ^ Coexistence of coral reef fishes—a lottery for living space PF Sale 1978 - Environmental Biology of Fishes, 1978
- ^ Vroom, Peter S.; Page, Kimberly N.; Kenyon, Jean C. & Brainard, Russell E. (2006), “Algae-Dominated Reefs”, American Scientist 94 (5): pp.430-437
- ^ Ryan Holl (17 April 2003). Bioerosion: an essential, and often overlooked, aspect of reef ecology. Iowa State University. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
- ^ Hughes etal. (2003). Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs. Science. Vol 301 15 August 2003. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
- ^ Australian Government Productivity Commission (2003). Industries, Land Use and Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef Catchment - Key Points. Retrieved on 2006-05-29.
- ^ Rachel Nowak (2004-01-11). Sewage nutrients fuel coral disease. New Scientist. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
- ^ Emma Young (2003). Copper decimates coral reef spawning. Retrieved on 2006-08-26.
- ^ CIA - The World Factbook -- Philippines. CIA. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
- ^ David LECCHINI, Sandrine POLTI, Yohei NAKAMURA, Pascal MOSCONI, Makoto TSUCHIYA, Georges REMOISSENET, Serge PLANES (2006) "New perspectives on aquarium fish trade" Fisheries Science 72 (1), 40–47. Blackwell Synergy. Retrieved on 2007-01-16.
- ^ Kleypas, J.A., R.A. Feely, V.J. Fabry, C. Langdon, C.L. Sabine, and L.L. Robbins, 2006, Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers: A guide for Future Research, NSF, NOAA, & USGS, 88 pp.
- ^ The Ocean and the Carbon Cycle. NASA Oceanography (science@nasa) (2005-06-21). Retrieved on 2007-03-04.
- ^ Jacobson, M. Z. (2005). Studying ocean acidification with conservative, stable numerical schemes for nonequilibrium air-ocean exchange and ocean equilibrium chemistry. J. Geophys. Res. Atm. 110, D07302.
- ^ Orr, J. C. et al. (2005). Anthropogenic ocean acidification over the twenty-first century and its impact on calcifying organisms. Nature 437, 681-686.
- ^ Gattuso, J.-P., Frankignoulle, M., Bourge, I., Romaine, S. and Buddemeier, R. W. (1998). Effect of calcium carbonate saturation of seawater on coral calcification. Glob. Planet. Change 18, 37-46.
- ^ Duce, R.A., Unni, C.K., Ray, B.J., Prospero, J.M., Merrill, J.T. 1980. Long-range atmospheric transport of soil dust from Asia to the tropical North Pacific:Temporal variability. Science 209:1522–1524.
- ^ Usinfo.state.gov. Study Says African Dust Affects Climate in U.S., Caribbean. Retrieved on 2007-06-10.
- ^ Prospero, J.M., Nees, R.T. 1986. Impact of the North African drought and El Niño on mineral dust in the Barbados trade winds. Nature 320:735–738.
- ^ U. S. Geological Survey. Coral Mortality and African Dust. Retrieved on 2007-06-10.
- ^ Merman, E.A. 2001. Atmospheric inputs to the tropical ocean—unlocking the record in annually banded corals. Master’s thesis. University of South Florida, St. Petersburg.
- ^ Muhs, D.R., Bush, C.A., Stewart, K.C., Rowland, T.R., Crittenden, R.C. 1990. Geochemical evidence of Saharan dust parent material for soils developed on Quaternary limestones of Caribbean and Western Atlantic islands. Quaternary Research 33:157–177.
- ^ Abs-Cbn Interactive, ‘RP coral reefs, second largest in Asia, in bad shape’
- ^ Save Our Seas, 1997 Summer Newsletter, Dr. Cindy Hunter and Dr. Alan Friedlander
- ^ Tun, K., L.M. Chou, A. Cabanban, V.S. Tuan, Philreefs, T. Yeemin, Suharsono, K.Sour, and D. Lane, 2004, p:235-276 in C. Wilkinson (ed.), Status of Coral Reefs of the world: 2004.
- ^ Kleypas, J.A., R.A. Feely, V.J. Fabry, C. Langdon, C.L. Sabine, and L.L. Robbins, 2006, Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers: A guide for Future Research, NSF, NOAA, & USGS, 88 pp.
- ^ Cinner, J. et al. (2005). Conservation and community benefits from traditional coral reef management at Ahus Island, Papua New Guinea. Conservation Biology 19 (6), 1714-1723
- ^ Coral Reef Management, Papua New Guinea. Nasa's Earth Observatory. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
- ^ 'The Coral Gardener'-documentary on coral gardening by Counterpart
- ^ Practical Action coral reef restoration
- ^ Sabater, Marlowe G.; Yap, Helen T. 2004. "Long-term effects of induced mineral accretion on growth, survival, and corallite properties of Porites cylindrica Dana." Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. Vol. 311:355-374.
- ^ Sabater, Marlowe G.; Yap, Helen T. 2004. "Long-term effects of induced mineral accretion on growth, survival, and corallite properties of Porites cylindrica Dana." Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. Vol. 311:355-374.
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General references
- Barber, Charles V. and Vaughan R. Pratt. 1998. Poison and Profit: Cyanide Fishing in the Indo-Pacific. Environment, Heldref Publications.
- Butler, Steven. 1996. "Rod? Reel? Dynamite? A tough-love aid program takes aim at the devastation of the coral reefs". U.S. News and World Report, 25 November 1996.
- Christie, P. 2005a. University of Washington, Lecture. 18 May 2005.
- Christie, P. 2005b. University of Washington, Lecture. 4 May 2005.
- CIA - World Factbook -- Philippines
- Clifton, Julian. 2003. Prospects for Co-Management in Indonesia's Marine Protected Areas. Marine Policy, 27(5): 389-395.
- Courtney, Catherine and Alan White. 2000. Integrated Coastal Management in the Philippines. Coastal Management; Taylor and Francis.
- Fox, Helen. 2005. Experimental Assessment of Coral Reef Rehabilitation Following Blast Fishing. The Nature Conservancy Coastal and Marine Indonesia Program. Blackwell Publishers Ltd, Feb 2005.
- Gjertsen, Heidi. 2004. Can Habitat Protection Lead to Improvements in Human Well-Being? Evidence from Marine Protected Areas in the Philippines.
- Martin, Glen. 2002. "The depths of destruction Dynamite fishing ravages Philippines' precious coral reefs". San Francisco Chronicle, 30 May 2002
- Sadovy, Y.J. Ecological Issues and the Trades in Live Reef Fishes, Part 1
- USEPA.
- UNEP. 2004. Coral Reefs in the South China Sea. UNEP/GEF/SCS Technical Publication No. 2.
- UNEP. 2007. Coral Reefs Demonstration Sites in the South China Sea. UNEP/GEF/SCS Technical Publication No. 5.
- UNEP, 2007. National Reports on Coral Reefs in the Coastal Waters of the South China Sea. UNEP/GEF/SCS Technical Publication No. 11.
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External links
- Reef Fest Concert Series Non-profit organization to benefit coral reef conservation globally during the International Year of the Reef 2008
- International Year of the Reef in 2008
- Moorea Coral Reef Long Term Ecological Research Site (US NSF)
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
- NOAA's Coral-List Listserver for Coral Reef Information and News
- NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program
- NOAA's Coral Reef Information System
- NOAA Report: The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2005
- ReefBase: A Global Information System on Coral Reefs
- National Coral Reef Institute Nova Southeastern University
- Global Coral Reef Alliance
- Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN)
- Marine Aquarium Council
- NCORE National Center for Coral Reef Research University of Miami
- The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL)
- Science and Management of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand
- A special report on the plight of the planet's coral reefs—and how you can help—from Mother Jones magazine
- A guide to finding sources and literature about coral reefs
- NBII portal on coral reefs
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