Reef, habitats and Connectivity Flashcards
How are corals ecosystem engineers?
They provide shelter and ambush opportunities for prey and predators by creating structural complexity and rugosity.
How does the structural complexity/rugosity created by corals affect species diversity?
The greater rugosity/ structural complexity allows for different species to exist near each other while still being hidden from each other allowing prey and predator to coexist to some extent.
How does connectivity play a role in species replenishment?
Connectivity allows habitats to be connected so that different species can move between them throughout their lifecycle from larvae in a nursery habitat to juvenile in a seagrass bed to an adult in a coral reef.
What are two habitats that fish life lifecycles are integrated with?
Reef and estuarine systems
How do fish benefit coral reefs?
Herbivorous reef fish prevent and reverse the development of macroalgae and remove seaweed from reefs keeping populations under control allowing for coral settlement and growth.
What are the 4 ecological roles of herbivorous fish?
scrapers and small excavators
large excavators and bioeroders
grazers/detritivores
Browsers
What is an ecological tipping point?
The point at which an ecosystem can no longer cope with environmental change and the ecosystem rapidly shifts to a new state (may involve a coral reef degrading becoming an algal reef)
What is hysteresis?
When the return pathway of an ecosystem to recovery differs from the original pathway of degradation
What are some of the threats to coral reefs?
-Sea surface temperature
-Changing ocean chemistry
-COTS
-Water quality relating to land use
-turbidity
-Increased nitrates and phosphates from farming
-Eutrophication
-Overfishing
How does connectivity affect coral health?
It links disturbances to the coral reefs such as turbidity and increased nutrients (water quality)
