Coral Reefs and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument

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Coral Reefs and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine
National Monument
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What do you know about these topics?

• What are the major characteristics of a coral
  reef ecosystem?
• Where are coral reefs located?
• Are there any coral reefs in the United States?
• What value, if any, are coral reefs to humans?
• Please answer these pre-assessment questions on
  your worksheet ?

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Youll learn more information on these topics
throughout this slide show!
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Major characteristics of reefs

• complex, biologically diverse ecosystems
• home to more kinds of life than any other marine
  environment,
• rivaling even the tropical rainforests on land

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More Reef Characteristics

• The delicate marine environment of the reef
  itself relies upon the interaction of many
  different forms of life
• hard and soft corals, algae, fish, sponges,
  crustaceans, worms, turtles, dolphins and other
  sea life.

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Corals the basis of the reef

• Composed of thin plates or layers of calcium
  carbonate secreted over thousands of years by
  billions of tiny, soft-bodied animals called
  coral polyps.
• The reef is constantly growing new colonies of
  polyps on top of the skeletons of older ones.
• Corals typically grow only one-half inch per
  year.

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A single coral polyp is a tiny animal
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Check out a coral polyp from different
perspectives!
Up close!
In cross section!
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Corals are consumers!

• They may look like plants or tiny flowers but.
• Corals use their tentacles to capture or collect
  plankton from the surrounding water
• In places where there is limited plankton, corals
  have another way of getting fed..

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Corals often contain a symbiotic algae in their
tissues called zooxanthellae
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This symbiosis benefits both the coral and the
algae

• Coral provides the algae with a protected
  environment and the compounds necessary for
  photosynthesis
• carbon dioxide, produced by coral respiration,
  and inorganic nutrients such as nitrates, and
  phosphates, which are metabolic waste products of
  the coral.
• In return, the algae produce oxygen and help the
  coral to remove wastes.
• They also supply the coral with organic products
  of photosynthesis.
• These compounds, including glucose, glycerol, and
  amino acids, are utilized by the coral as
  building blocks in the manufacture of proteins,
  fats, and carbohydrates, as well as the synthesis
  of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) that forms the hard
  part of the reef

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Zooxanthellae often are critical elements in the
continuing health of reef-building corals. As
much as 90 of the organic material they
manufacture photosynthetically is transferred to
the host coral tissue!
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There are other organisms that build coral reefs

• Algae that produce a hard exterior called
  coralline algae
• Sponges
• Other invertebrates like mollusks

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Healthy reefs in Hawaii are often algae-dominated
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Given what youve learned about coral reefs..

• Where in the world do you think reefs exist?
• What kind of environmental conditions do they
  need to survive?
• Take a few minutes to discuss your ideas with a
  classmate sitting near you!

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Abiotic (environmental) factors are also
important in defining coral reefs

• Reefs need
• Sunlight
• Clear water so that the sunlight can penetrate
• Temperatures in a range near 18C

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They are affected by currents and wave action
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Coral Reefs are located near the equator
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We do have reefs in the U.S.
Red dots represent the reef study sites of the
Millennium Ecosystem Study
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The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument,
northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands, is one
the largest marine preserves in the world and
contains extensive coral reefs
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The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument

• Created by President Bush in 2006
• Encompasses 137,797 square miles of the Pacific
  Ocean (105,564 square nautical miles) - an area
  larger than all the country's national parks
  combined.

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The Monument is part of your natural heritage!

• The monument benefits from the most stringent
  environmental protection and ongoing scientific
  research
• The extensive coral reefs found in
  Papahanaumokuakea - truly the rainforests of the
  sea - are home to over 7,000 marine species!
• It is a place of great cultural significance to
  the Hawaiian people

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What value, if any, are coral reefs to humans?

• Reefs protect coastal areas from storm surge by
  absorbing the impact of wave and wind action
• Coral reefs are also valuable for commercial and
  sport fishing, tourism and recreational
  opportunities for diving, boating, and
  photography
• They have value as a natural wilderness that
  provides habitat for numerous species- some of
  them endangered.
• Coral reefs also filter water and trap sediments

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Coral reefs are storehouses of genetic resources
with vast medicinal potential currently being
researched are

• a cancer therapy made from algae
• a painkiller taken from the venom in cone snails
• antiviral drugs Ara-A and AZT and the anticancer
  agent Ara-C, developed from extracts of sponges

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Are there other reasons you can think of to value
coral reefs? Why would Hawaiians or other island
cultures hold them sacred?

• Discuss these questions with your classmates!

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Acknowledgements

• Contributors to the NOAA CoRIS web site
  including R.D. Barnes (1987), R.S.K. Barnes and
  Hughes (1999), Lalli and Parsons (1995), Levinton
  (1995) and Sumich (1996)
• David A. Krupp, online lecture notes
• Andrew W. Bruckner, Life Saving Products from
  Coral Reefs
• Photo credits James Watt, Daniel Suthers, Andy
  Collins, John Reed and Keoki Stender