Model of coral reef community Indopacifik

Description:

Coral reefs are formed in the tropical seas of the whole world, generally between the Raka and Capricorn vertebrates (25 ° N - 25 ° S), with optimum water temperatures from 23 to 25 ° C and depths up to 27 m. Corals are sessile animals and can live alone or in colonies. The corals themselves are not limited to the tropics, where they build entire cliffs, but also inhabit the cold waters of the Arctic and Antarctic beyond the Arctic Circle. But none of these child-loving species grow as fast as large reef species in the tropics. The coral reef is the environment with the largest biomass production. The cliffs surrounding the continents and islands protect them from the destructive onslaught of the sea and influence the formation of the coast due to the high sedimentation between the cliff and the ground. However, they are very threatened by the permanent pressure of human activity. Twenty percent of the coral reefs in the world have already been destroyed, almost a quarter are in imminent danger and another quarter are endangered in a longer-term view. All coral reefs are formed on the same principle by the growth and accumulation of calcareous skeletons, especially beads, their appearance and composition are varied. According to the origin and location, it is divided into three main types: lemons (bank), barrier and atolls. Fringing reef is a coral growing just off the shore in shallow water. By successive propagation and increase they grow both towards the surface and towards the open sea (outer edge of the cliff). The edge of the hem cliff is often separated from the ground by very shallow water, so that at low tide the reef platform can get over the water. Lem cliffs can be found on the east coast of Africa, Madagascar, Java, Solomon and Carolingian islands, in isolation as well as in the Caribbean region and weakly developed near Hawaii. Barrier reef is a completely different type of reef. It is not always continuous, it forms a series of almost continuous spines, which are divided into inner and outer reefs. On the outer edge, the amount of corals is directly below the surface - the windward edge of the reef expands through the growth of corals. Towards the mainland of individual coral bunches, due to freshwater influences and sediment deposits, it is decreasing. The best known example is the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast of Australia. Other barrier reefs are located in the Pacific Ocean between the Social Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia and the southeast of New Guinea. They occur much less in the Indian Ocean and only rarely in the Atlantic. Atolls are the right coral islands. It differs from the selvedge or barrier type in annular shape and slope, which fall into deep water. Inside the atoll is a shallow lagoon. The lagoon ring consists of a series of shallows and small islets and straits broken through the straits that allow access from the oceans to the lagoon. Groats with a formed soil layer can be covered with vegetation (e.g. coconut palms). One of the most typical atolls is the Kokos Islands in the Indian Ocean, first studied by Charles Darwin, the creator of the still valid theory of the emergence of not only atolls but also barrier reefs.

Format:

image

Collections:

National Museum - Natural History Museum

Content partner:

National Museum - Natural History Museum

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