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Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Coral reefs are among the most beautiful, and most diverse, of ecosystems. Early seafarers were wary of them, naturalists were confused by them, yet many coastal people benefited greatly from these mysterious rocky structures that grew up to the surface of the sea. They have been rich in their supply of food, and they provided a breakwater from storms and high waves to countless coastal communities that developed from their protection. Their scale is enormous and their value high. Found in countless locations around the world, from the Indo-Pacific coral reef province to the Caribbean and Australia, they support both marine and human life. But today coral reefs are in trouble, with many dying or suffering from over-exploitation, pollution, and the warming and acidification of the oceans. Understanding reefs, their conservation and management, is vital, and so is conveying this to authority if we are to preserve these remarkable ecosystems. In this Very Short Introduction Charles Sheppard describes the complex structure and interdependencies of a reef, how reefs have evolved, the diversity of marine life that they support, and their importance to the human population who live beside them. This new edition describes the latest research on the complex symbioses of coral animals with microorganisms. It also highlights the scale of the challenge facing our reefs today, following recent ocean heatwaves - part of wider climate disruption - that killed half the world's reefs, and considers what can be done to preserve these essential and vibrant ecosystems. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
What is life like in a coral reef? What do corals eat? Why are corals more colorful at nighttime? Learn about some of the most beautiful locations in the natural world Marine biologists believe coral reefs existed 400 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Today this active environment is home to about 20,000 kinds of brilliantly colored corals, plants, and animals--more sea creatures than are found anywhere else in the world. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is so large that astronauts can see it from outer space! Children in early elementary grades will enjoy Gibbon's informative text and clear, detailed illustrations on this journey into the unique lives of coral reefs.
"The influence of fishing, nutrients, bacteria, viruses, and climate change on nature's most wondrous constructs"--Cover.
An eye-opening introduction to the complexity, wonder, and vital roles of coral reefs When mass coral bleaching and die-offs were first identified in the 1980s, and eventually linked to warming events, the scientific community was sure that such a dramatic and unambiguous signal would serve as a warning sign about the devastating effects of global warming. Instead, most people ignored that warning. Subsequent decades have witnessed yet more degradation. Reefs around the world have lost more than 50 percent of their living coral since the 1970s. In this book, distinguished marine ecologist Peter F. Sale imparts his passion for the unexpected beauty, complexity, and necessity of coral reefs. By placing reefs in the wider context of global climate change, Sale demonstrates how their decline is more than simply a one-off environmental tragedy, but rather an existential warning to humanity. He offers a reframing of the enormous challenge humanity faces as a noble venture to steer the planet into safe waters that might even retain some coral reefs.
Text and photographs examine the different kinds of coral reefs and their composition and describe the variety of fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and other animals that live in the reef environment.
In recent years, a catastrophic global bleaching event devastated many of the world’s precious coral reefs. Working on the front lines of ruin, today’s coral scientists are struggling to save these important coral reef ecosystems from the imminent threats of rapidly warming, acidifying, and polluted oceans. Coral Whisperers captures a critical moment in the history of coral reef science. Gleaning insights from over one hundred interviews with leading scientists and conservation managers, Irus Braverman documents a community caught in an existential crisis and alternating between despair and hope. In this important new book, corals emerge not only as signs and measures of environmental catastrophe, but also as catalysts for action.
As concerns about the change in global climate and the loss of biodiversity have mounted, attention has focused on the depletion of the ozone layer and the destruction of tropical rainforests. But recently scientists have identified another seriously endangered ecosystem: coral reefs. In Corals in Space and Time, J.E.N. Veron provides a richly detailed study of corals that will inform investigations of these fragile ecosystems. Drawing on twenty-five years of research, Veron brings together extensive field observations about the taxonomy, biogeography, paleontology, and biology of corals. After introducing coral taxonomy and biogeography, as well as relevant aspects of coral biology for the non-specialist, he provides an interpretation of the fossil record and paleoclimates, an analysis of modern coral distribution, and a discussion of the evolutionary nature and origins of coral species. Revealing a sharp conflict between empirical observations about the geographical variation within species, Veron introduces a non-Darwinian theory of coral evolution. He proposes that the evolution of coral species is driven not primarily by natural selection, but by constantly shifting patterns of ocean circulation, which produce changing variations of genetic connectivity. This mechanism of speciation and hybridization has far-reaching consequences for the study of all types of corals and potentially many other groups of organisms as well.