Great Barrier Reef Essay

Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Organisms that can be found in this ecosystem –
Seaweed – P
Sea grass – P
Zooxanthellae – P
Phytoplankton – P
Zooplankton – C Omnivore
Krill – C Omnivore
Prawn – D
Platygyra hard coral – C Omnivore
Turbinaria hard coral – C Omnivore
Bottlebrush coral – C Omnivore
Bubble coral – C Carnivore
Needle coral – C Omnivore
Giant clam – C Omnivore
Cone shell – C Omnivore
Nudibranchs – C Omnivore
Mollusks – C Carnivore
Zig-zag oysters – C Omnivore
Cowries – C Omnivore
Sea slugs – C Omnivore
Sea urchins – C Omnivore
Sea cucumbers – D
Sea stars – C Omnivore

Feather stars – C Omnivore
Brittle stars – D
Crown-of-Thorns starfish – C Carnivore
Pipefish – C Omnivore
Shrimp – D
Crab – D
Crayfish – D
Yellow burrowing sponge – C Omnivore
Tubular sponge – C Omnivore
Thick yellow fan sponge – C Omnivore
Octopus – C Carnivore
Squid – C Carnivore
Cuttlefish – C Carnivore
Olive sea snake – C Carnivore
Turtle-headed sea snake – C Carnivore
Sea kraits – C Carnivore
Seahorses – C Carnivore
Clownfish (anemone fish) – C Omnivore
Red bass – C Carnivore
Coral trout – C Carnivore
Damselfish – C Omnivore
Tuskfish – C Carnivore
Potato cod – C Carnivore
Wrasses – C Carnivore
Blennies – C Omnivore
Butterfly fish – C Omnivore
Triggerfish – C Carnivore
Cowfish – C Omnivore
Pufferfish – C Omnivore
Angelfish – C Carnivore
Sea perch – C Omnivore
Sole – C Carnivore
Scorpion fish – C Carnivore
Hawkfish – C Carnivore
Surgeonfish – C Omnivore
Parrotfish – C Omnivore
Red-throat emperor – C Carnivore
Snapper – C Carnivore
Skates – C Carnivore
Manta rays – C Carnivore
Chimaera – C Carnivore
Spinner dolphins – C Carnivore
Risso’s dolphins – C Carnivore
Striped dolphins – C Carnivore
Pan-tropical dolphins – C Carnivore
Short-beaked saddleback dolphins – C Carnivore
Bottlenose dolphins – C Carnivore
Irrawaddy dolphins – C Carnivore
Indo-pacific dolphins – C Carnivore
Short-finned pilot whales – C Carnivore
Humpback whales – C Omnivore
Minke whales – C Carnivore
False killer whales – C Carnivore
Blue whales – C Omnivore
Fin whales – C Carnivore
Sei whales – C Omnivore
Dugongs – C Herbivore
Epaulette shark – C Carnivore
Whale shark – C Carnivore
Tiger shark – C Carnivore
Indo-pacific (Saltwater) crocodile – C Carnivore
Green sea turtle – C Herbivore
Loggerhead sea turtle – C Omnivore
Leatherback sea turtle – C Carnivore
Hawksbill sea turtle – C Carnivore
Flatback sea turtle – C Omnivore
Pacific (Olive) Ridley sea turtle – C Omnivore
Roseate tern – C Omnivore
White-breasted sea eagle – C Carnivore (PBS, 2001)

Benefit of this biodiversity – The benefits of biodiversity in this ecosystem in the coral reefs protect the shores from storms and the impact of waves, it provides humans benefits like food and medicine, and another one being it provides great economic benefits to the local community near the reef from tourists. (Shah, 2013)
Major categories of organisms – The producers in the Great Barrier Reef are the seaweed, sea grass, zooxanthellae, and phytoplankton which give all the primary consumers their food.
Then the primary consumers in the Great Barrier Reef are mostly the green sea turtles and dugongs because they are the herbivores and eat the producers. From there the secondary consumers in the reef would be what eats the primary consumers and these organisms would mostly be the bigger reef fish like the parrot fish, sturgeon fish, and also turtles like the leatherback sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, and other organisms like that. Then from there are the tertiary consumers which consume the secondary consumers and some examples of these in the reef are the epaulette shark, whale shark, tiger shark, and other examples like that. The last category of the organisms would be the decomposers which are the organisms that are stay on the bottom of the reef and eat whatever is down there and those are the prawns, sea cucumbers, shrimp, crayfish, crab, and brittle
stars.

Interactions between organisms in the reef ecosystem – The interactions that happen between the organisms in the reef ecosystem is the only way all the organisms would be able to survive in the reef is they have to rely on each other. Everything does what it needs to help everything keep moving smoothly. Like the sharks have to eat the fish that they eat or else the reef would be over taken by the fish and the algae uses waste from other things to use as energy and then coral would use that energy to keep the reef clean of carbon dioxide.

Potential hazards caused by humans and its effects on the biodiversity in the reef – The main and major hazard that is caused by humans that effect the biodiversity in the reef is the water quality in the reef is not as good as it should be. It has been getting polluted by humans, if not directly, but indirectly where humans pollute the bodies of water that go into the reef. The effects on the biodiversity in the reef that comes from the pollution of the water in the reef is either the biodiversity starts to die off because it just cannot live in those kinds of situations, or they just find other places to live and then the reef does not get the benefits that the biodiversity gives to the reef. Another hazard that humans can cause to the reef is fishing too much in the reef and taking out too much out of the reef.

References
PBS. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/survival/coral/
Shah, A. (2013, March 3). Coral Reefs: Ecosystems of Environmental and Human Value. Global Issues. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/173/coral-reefs
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2013). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_threats_to_the_Great_Barrier_Reef