1. Coral Reefs By Lauren Little and Summer Grimmer February 27, 2015
Coral reefs are diverse underwater ecosystems held together by corals.

2. Location Estimated to cover 109,800 square miles
Corals exist in temperate and tropical waters
Tropical: don’t grow at 50 meters (160ft)
Temperature for coral reefs: degrees F

3. Abiotic Characteristics
Temp and salinity affect calcification
Zooxanthallae: give corals their pigment, exiting the host coral, or actually being consumed by the coral itself, is commonly referred to as "bleaching" due to the remaining visible white coral skeleton
Increasing CO2 in atmosphere ocean lowers PH
Corals gain some nutrition zooxanthallae, corals are heterotrophic because they capture zooplankton from the water column with their tentacles

4. Producers Producers include algae, sea plants and plankton
Primary consumers are mostly small fish, molluscs, coral polyps, clams and sponges
They are eaten by secondary consumers like eels, crabs, starfish and octopus
Some decomposers are fan worms and flat fish

5. Animals Sea snakes, sea turtles, manatees, sponges
Mollusks (clams, mussels, snails, squid, cuttlefish, etc.)
Crustaceans (shrimp, lobster, crabs, etc.)
Dolphins (who visit to hunt or feed)
Echinoderms ( sea stars, sea urchins, etc.)

6. Animals/Fish 500-600 species in the Caribbean
8-10 times more in Indo-Pacific
Evolved, flattened body for sharp turns and sudden stops.. “Pancake Fish”
Bold, striking and showy colors ( used for concealment, mate recognition, and warning)

7. Fun Facts
Corals are not plants, they are animals; relatives of jellyfish and anemones
Coral reefs are found in 1% of the world yet 25% of marine species live here
Algae is the “natural glue” that holds together the reef
The first coral reefs were formed about 500 million years ago
About 10 million bacteria live on one square centimeter of Coral

8. Human Impact Coral Reefs are used for fishing and tourism
More than 80% of reefs are considered severely overfished
58% of the world’s coral reefs are threatened by human tourism
Reefs are found in over 109 countries (93 countries have significant reef degradation)
We have already lost 27% of coral reefs in the world (If this rate continues, we will lose 60% or more over the next 30 years)

9. Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reef#Locations
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wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/coasts/coral_reefs/coral_facts