Reef Foundations
The percentage of the world's ocean area where coral reefs can be found, according to the presentation's introduction.
What is 1%?
The most common reef type that grows directly against the coast.
What is a fringing reef?
This protective function of reefs prevents erosion and damage to shorelines during storms.
What is coastal protection (or wave breaks)?
The term for when high water temperatures cause coral to turn white.
What is coral bleaching?
The name for sunscreens that do not contain chemicals like oxybenzone that harm coral.
What is reef-safe sunscreen?
The tiny marine animal, related to the jellyfish, that builds the reef structure.
What is the coral polyp?
This massive reef type is separated from the mainland by a wide, deep lagoon.
What is a barrier reef?
Reefs provide a major source of income by supporting this travel and recreation industry.
What is tourism?
When coral turns white, it has expelled this crucial algae that gives it color and food.
What is Zooxanthellae?
A specific zone established by governments to limit fishing and human activity to protect reef ecosystems (Hint: MPA).
What is a Marine Protected Area?
This common nickname is given to coral reefs because of the high variety of life they support.
What are the 'rainforests of the sea'?
The world's largest barrier reef, mentioned as the prime example on the slides.
What is the Great Barrier Reef?
Scientists study reef organisms to look for new compounds that could be used as these.
What are new medicines or drugs?
The specific type of global change that leads to a drop in the ocean's pH level.
What is ocean acidification?
The conservation technique that involves growing small coral pieces in a nursery before transplanting them.
What is coral gardening (or fragment planting)?
The percentage of all known marine species that rely on coral reefs for survival.
What is 25%?
This ring-shaped reef encloses a central body of water, often forming as an island sinks.
What is an atoll?
The term used to describe the variety of life, or living organisms, found in coral reefs.
What is biodiversity?
Two key nutrients found in agricultural runoff (fertilizer) that cause algae to smother reefs.
What are nitrogen and phosphorus?
The most important type of pollution reduction mentioned on the slides that combats the root cause of bleaching.
What is reducing carbon footprint?
The hard chemical compound that coral polyps secrete to construct their skeletons.
What is calcium carbonate?
The name for the shallow body of water that separates a barrier reef from the mainland.
What is a lagoon?
Besides medicine and tourism, reefs provide a vital habitat for species crucial to this commercial food system.
What are fisheries?
A destructive fishing method mentioned on the slides that uses a poisonous substance to stun and catch fish.
What is cyanide fishing?
A key action to combat water pollution that involves controlling the use of fertilizers and pesticides near coastal areas.
What is reducing nutrient runoff?