Download Coral Reefs Face Extinction Answers

Coral Reefs Face Extinction: Questions
Answer the following questions.
1. How many animals in the ocean make their home in coral reefs?
 25% of total marine species
2. Describe what is happening to the coral reefs. What is causing this?
 They face extinction (most endangered species on earth)
o 1/3 of 700 species threatened
o We are the main cause
 Overfishing (by dynamite or poison)
 Polluted runoff from agriculture
 Development in booming coastal economies
 Tourism (diving, snorkelling) causes damage
o Disease
 Whole colonies can be wiped out
o Climate change and global warming
 Warmer H2O temperatures cause bleaching
3. What is bleaching? What causes it?
 Algae, who live in coral, provide colour to coral
 Coral becomes stressed by rising temperatures, and algae are
expelled from coral
 Turns reefs white: bleaching
4. What steps should we take to protect the coral reefs?
 Cut back on activities that ruin their habitat in shallow waters
 Stop agriculture runoff, destructive fishing practices
 Best thing to do: expand the range of territory protected by
marine reserves
 STOP CLIMATE CHANGE
5. What is the biggest factor affecting the coral reefs? Justify your answer.
 Everything else can be done, but if climate change doesn’t stop,
bleaching will continue to kill coral reefs
6. Are rainforests or coral reefs more endangered? How do you know?
 Coral reefs are more endangered
o ’68-’03: 600 square miles of reefs gone
 1%/year, which is 2X that of rainforests disappearing
7. What do you think it means when two organisms have a symbiotic
relationship?
 When different species have a cooperative or mutually dependant
relationship
8. What is Reef Check?
 Global network of volunteer snorkelers and divers, specially
trained by scientists to monitor reefs using a standardized
checklist
9. Why are the coral reefs so important?
 Preservation of biodiversity
o They constitute a complex and vast global ecosystem, home
to millions of species of plants and fish
o They protect the shore in some areas from potentially
destructive waves
 Several anticancer drugs are derived from reef species
 Natural beauty and allure generate tourist dollars