Coral Reefs - Part 1 Ecological Features
- Created by: Lydia Sinclair
- Created on: 09-01-13 11:00
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- Ecological features of coral reefs
- Polyps
- Coral reefs are built over a long time by a kind of coral called polyps which live on small cups of limestone they secrete.
- The limestone deposits are built up by successive generations of polyps, forming the reef.
- Polyps have a symbiotic relationship with a type of algae that lives inside of them and produces sugars.
- They also give coral their colour.
- Abiotic conditions required
- A hard substrate for polyps to attach to
- Stable salinity (salt levels)
- Low turbidity - The polyps are very fragile and high turbidity would damage them as well as block sunlight from the algae
- Bright sunlight for algae to photosynthesise
- Warm, stable temperatures (25 – 29ºC)
- Polyps
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