Preview

Why Coral Reefs Need to Be Protected and Conserved for Future Generati Essay Example

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
464 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Coral Reefs Need to Be Protected and Conserved for Future Generati Essay Example
Coral Reefs need to be preserved for many reasons. In this paper I will discuss a few of them. First of all, they houses a collection of diverse organisms, and contribute fisheries which provide food items such as fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. Furthermore, coral skeletons are being used as bone substitutes in reconstructive bone surgery and may be able to provide important medicine, including anti-cancer drugs and a compound that blocks ultra-violet rays, they even help reduce global warming by taking carbon dioxide out of the air.
These reefs provide a house for many species. If the coral reefs were to become extinct than future generations would not have the benefits that theses animals have to offer, such as possible medicines, pest control, and carbon dioxide control.
Fisheries are also contributed by corals and if they were eliminated would reduce the food source greatly. By not preserving corals, we are taking food directly out of our grandchildren's mouths. With the technology that is rapidly being discovered, we learn more and more about what we can do with bone structure and hard corals. Right now we are doing restructuring procedures and learning that bone tissue and blood vessels spread into the coral graft and eventually bone replaces most of the coral implant. Think about what could happen in the future, what future generations could do to improve bone structure disabilities. The possibilities are endless.
There is evidence that suggests coral reefs could potentially provide important medicines, including anti-cancer drugs and a compound that blocks out UV rays. Do we really want to take that opportunity away from our descendants? With the ozone layer depleting more and more each day they are going to need all the protection they need from the sun's harmful rays. Possibly a cure for cancer, and people are treating these living organisms like they are nothing. Maybe if there was more education people wouldn't take
the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    To begin, the use of technology to help lower the risk of these coral reefs being destroyed is a…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the global climate changing so are the coral like many other things and sadly they are dying off because of the temperature changing. Which is causing coral reef bleaching which is when the whitening of diverse invertebrate taxa it is caused by when zooxanthellae decline and or the concentration of photosynthetic pigments within the zooxanthellae…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    because of this, the entire food web is affected. Along with the species, the coral reefs…

    • 709 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Great Barrier Reef Essay

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages

    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…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    wrecked to have an effect on the Great Barrier Reef, however, as larger vessels passing…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holding one of the world’s broadest ranges of genetic biodiversity, the maintenance of the GBR is vital. Reasons for the conservation of the reef include economic value, importance as a reservoir for biological diversity, it is the largest reef system in the world, it is used for education and research into revolutionary processes, it plays an important role in the carbon cycle, chemicals can be removed for use in medicine and the GBR also prevents coastal erosion.…

    • 1670 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article, “Sunken Steel Cages Could Save Coral Reefs”, Gaia Vince discusses that sunken steel cages may help restore endangered coral reefs.…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Global climate change, unsustainable fishing impacts, and land-based pollution are some threats that decline the coral reefs. According to Terry Gibson, a co-author of a report from University of Miami, said that “from scuba diving in the Keys to charter fishing boats in Miami-Dade to commercial fishing in Martin County, reef-related sales amount to more than $5.5 billion each year.” Also, heavy touristic activities such as diving and snorkeling can take a toll on coral reefs. According to engineering firm Hazen & Sawyer, their survey on participation in recreational activities concludes that “five counties, Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe, Martin, and Palm Beach, make up more than 70,000 jobs and over $5.5 billion in annual sales in recreation related to coral reefs”. From this, employment relating to coral reefs generate more than $2.5 billion in annual income. The firm also mentioned that “overall users were willing to pay an additional $10.51 per day to fund efforts to preserve natural coral reefs and construct new artificial ones.” This may lead an increase in overall tourism to an area, meaning more visitors to both the artificial and natural reefs. However, these artificial reefs would then cause obstruction to habitats and attract invasive…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Some coral species lose their skeletons altogether” (Fine & Tchernov, pg 9, par 4), “and skeletal growth of recent recruits can be disrupted” (Cohen, pg 9, par 4). So the disruption of the skeletal growth can then make the reefs weaker and more vulnerable to damage and destruction. The acidity of the ocean doesn't just effect the skeletal growth of the coral reefs either. “This is damaging many ocean species that use calcium carbonate to form their skeletons and shells. Studies have shown that calcium carbonate formation is disrupted if water becomes too acidic”(Fujita, pg 2, par 8). So not only coral reefs being effected in skeletal growth, but all organisms that have an outer shell or exoskeleton have trouble developing a strong shell as the acid restricts the calcium production. Another effect that climate change brings about is rising sea levels. “The most obvious consequence of sea level rise will be an upward shift in species distributions. Most species are expected to be able to keep pace with predicted rates of sea level rise, with the exception of some slow-growing, longlived species such as many corals” (Knowlton, pg 10, par 1).” However, dramatic ecological changes could result from decreased habitat availability within a…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Coral Reef

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Coral reef and Desert ecosystem. The coral reef and desert ecosystem can be very similar or very different.The difference between the biotic and abiotic factors in the coral reef and the desert the ones in the coral reef live under water ,and in the desert none of them live under water only some of the fish do. Some of the biotic animals in the coral reef are dolphins and seals. bivalves, gastropods, tunicates, sponges, polychaete and feather duster worms, some corals, sea urchins, some crabs, green sea turtles, and herbivorous fish.Large reef fish, sharks, eels and barracudas. Some of the biotic animals in the desert are the gerbil, jerboa, Cape hare, desert hedgehog, barbary sheep, dorcas gazelle, sand fox, common jackal, spotted hyena, and the slender mongoose. Some of the biotic plants in the desert are the cypress, olive, and mastic trees aacia, artemisia, doum palm, oleander, date palm, and thyme trees. The coral reef is part of an ocean biome which is a big group of very similar ecosystems.…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coral Reef Structure

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Over the last few years there has also been a large rise in climate causing the oceans to heat up. The oceans heating up cause the carbon dioxide in the water to rise causing a bleaching effect on the coral, which is extremely dangerous because it prevents the coral from growing and causes them to calcify. This issue has caused many conservationist to worry about the future of reefs. According to National Geographic this is becoming a large problem because of how long it takes coral to actually mature. "That spells trouble for corals, which often take 15 years to reach sexual maturity and reproduce only once a year" (As Oceans Heat Up, a Race to Save World's Coral Reefs). National Geographic along with other programs have started many conservations and programs to help slow down the dying rate of the reefs. A biological oceanographer at the University of Miami gave this quote to National Geographic, "So a lot of our efforts are to give first aid to buy time until we can fix the problem, like CO2 [levels]. We can make a difference. It's not that hard" (As Oceans Heat Up, A Race to Save World's Coral Reefs). This just shows that with everyone's help we can all change the future of these…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coral Reef Research Paper

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Coral reefs are one of the world’s hidden treasures. In a coral reef, you can find anything from plants to certain types of animals. Some of the coral that you might see can be dangerous and fatal to humans. While some coral reefs are dangerous, others aren’t. There are a lot of things in a coral reef and many topics worth being discussed, but only three topics will be touched on throughout this paper. The first topic is the food web within the coral reefs; the second topic being discussed will be the different types of coral reefs; the third topic to be discussed will be where coral reefs can be found.…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coral reefs have been dubbed the “rainforests of the oceans”, because of the rich diversity of life they support, as more than one quarter of all marine animals depend upon coral reefs. Coral reefs are also a source of food and income for millions of people. The coral reef ecosystems benefit humans commercially, recreationally and environmentally. Without them many tourism based industries would collapse, treatments or cures for some illnesses would disappear, and the countless organisms they support would be left without food or shelter. For these reasons and numerous others, it is vital that we protect coral reefs.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coral Reef Essay

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Coral reefs are one of the most interesting things on earth. It is a shame that people know so little about them and that they aren’t taken care of near as well as they should be. They are fascinating to learn about if you put time and effort to learn about them and what they are. Also, what they all do for our environment. Our solution for taking care of our reefs are to educate yourself about coral reefs, volunteer for reef clean-ups, do not anchor down on the reefs, and reduce, reuse, and…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    ARTICLE2

    • 1034 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Our understanding of coral reefs is now that there aren’t different kinds of coral reefs but rather all coral reefs are in different stages of development.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays