coasts gw 2

Question 1

what are fisheries?

Answer 1

• areas where fish are bred and raised to meet growing demand for fish
• a third of the world’s fish supply come from fisheries

Question 2

describe an example of fisheries and aquaculture?

Answer 2

in Ca Mau, Vietnam, 60000 hectares of coastal mangroves were cleared in the 1980s and converted into shrimp farms and the profits of shrimp farms in 2010 was US $800 million

Question 3

describe housing and transport?

Answer 3

• stilt house communities, built on stilts above water, connected by walkways, boats as mode of transportation

Question 4

name an example of housing and transport?

Answer 4

• Air Masin, Kukup, Malaysia, 180 stilt houses and floating fish farms, while boates are used by local fishermen to facilitate their fishing activities

Question 5

describe tourism and recreation?

Answer 5

• tourism: temporary movement of people primarily for leisure or recreational purposes
• recreation : activities done for enjoyment when one is not working

Question 6

name an example of tourism and recreation?

Answer 6

Sentosa, Singapore is a resort island with a chain of sheltered artificial beaches on southern coast, with Marina Club with boating services and marina facilities built on the coast, and hosted 19 million visitors in 2011

Question 7

what are coral reefs?

Answer 7

• structures that develop slightly below sea level on the seabed
• made up of thousands of tiny animals known as coral polyps, which secrete calcium carbonate to protect the soft body of the polyp

Question 8

what are the conditions for coral reefs to thrive?

Answer 8

• 23-25 degrees celsius, no lower than 17-18 degrees celsius
• water dept of less than 25m, but not exposed to air
• clean, clear water (sediment free) - required for light for photosynthesis
• well oxygenated water produced by strong wave action

Question 9

what are the uses of coral reefs?

Answer 9

• tourism: over 2 million people visit the great barrier reef each year, generating appoximately 5-6 billion in revenue
• food: over 1 billion people depend on food from coral reefs; if properly managed, reefs can yield around 15 tonnes of fish and other seafood per square kilometre each year
• habitat: despite covering 0.1% of the sea floor, home to 25% of marine fish species
• coastal defence: 97% wave energy reduction, 84% wave height reduction

Question 10

what are the problems of coral reefs?

Answer 10

• 75% of the world’s reefs are threatened, 35% of corals in northern and central part of great barrier reef are dead or dying
• climate change –> acidified oceans, severe weather, warming water
• pollution (e.g. oil spills)
• tourism (e.g. people collecting or damaging corals, boat anchoring onto reefs
• coastal developments (e.g. land reclamation suffocating corals)
• overfishing/dynamite blasting (destroys ecosystem and the coral reef habitat itself)
• coral bleaching

coral and algae depend on each other to survive (algae are the corals’ primary food source and give the corals their colour)
however, when stressed, algae leaves the coral
coral loses major source of food and turns white

Question 11

what are mangroves?

Answer 11

• salt tolerant tropical or subtropical plants that grow in tidal mud

Question 12

where are mangroves usually found?

Answer 12

• low-lyring and waterlogged areas
• coastal regions where rivers constantly deposit silt and clay
• found mainly in tropical belt 23.5 degrees north/south
• requires salt

Question 13

what are some types of mangroves?

Answer 13

• horizontal layering as compared to vertical layering of rainforests
• trees closer to the sea are more tolerant of salt
• zones: coastal (e.g. avicennia), middle (e.g. rhizophora) and inland (e.g. brugeira trees)
• trees form a continuous canopy and shuts out sunlight, thus forest ground is bare

Question 14

what is the value of mangroves?

Answer 14

• protects the coat
• carbon storage
• waste filter and conversion
• roots trap waste materials, reducing amount of pollutants flowing into the sea
• soil contains bacteria that can break down biodegradable wastes and convert them into nutrients
• supports wildlife and ecosystem
• habitat for organism such as birds, monitor lizards, snails and fishes

Question 15

what is an example of the value of mangroves?

Answer 15

• united nations environment programme report in 2006 estimated the annual value of mangroves to an economy to be between us 200k and 900k per square km (protect beaches and fish, providing building materials, improve water quality, tourism and recreation)