Author: Rachel Wood
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780198577843
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 434
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Book Description
If one does not understand the biology of the coral reef, one does not understand the reef at all. So, using more than 250 illustrations and specially drawn ecological reconstructions of reef communities, Rachel Wood provides a unique evolutionary approach to the understanding of ancient coral reef ecosystems. Marine organisms have aggregated to form reefs for over 3.5 billion years--creating the largest biologically constructed feature on earth, some visible from space. However, their study has been largely descriptive. Reef Evolution, documents the fundamental biological processes and innovations which have molded the evolution of reef ecosystems and given rise to the highly complex communities found today. The appearance of clonality, the acquisition of photosymbiosis, and the radiation of predator groups are all discussed in depth. Data from the fossil record documents the evolutionary development of reef ecosystems. Although reefs only occupy a small percentage of the oceans, their importance to the marine environment is many-faceted and global. They create harbors and allow the development of shallow basins with associated mangrove or seagrass communities; they protect coastlines from erosion; are involved in the regulation of atmospheric carbon, which in turn contributes to climate control. can provide extensive oil and gas reservoirs. From a biological standpoint, however, the great significance of reefs lies in their ability to generate and maintain a substantial proportion of tropical marine biodiversity. This unique interdisciplinary approach provides students and researchers in evolution, marine biology, ecology, paleontology, biodiversity, and geology with a text that will allow them to truly understand the biological innovations which have molded the evolution of coral reefs and given rise to the highly complex communities found today.
Author: J. A. Fagerstrom
Publisher: Wiley-Interscience
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 636
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Book Description
Discusses the composition, structure, occurrence, and changes in reefs during the past 2 billion years. This is the only fully integrated treatment of these factors and processes with the evolutionary history of the organisms that have built reefs. Emphasizes the functional roles of major groups (guilds) of reef-building, reef-destroying, and reef-dwelling organisms in the most complex of all marine communities. A structural model, based on modern reef guilds, is developed. Then the functional roles of each major reef-building higher biologic taxon (algae, sponges, coral, etc.) is determined, and, on this basis, each such taxon is assigned to a reef community guild. Next, the author traces the geologic history and guild assignment of each major taxon through geologic time. The final chapter establishes a succession of ten major reef community types, and considers their extinction and recovery in the light of modern theories of cosmic and earthly events. Profusely illustrated.
Author: David Hopley
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 904812638X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1226
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Book Description
Coral reefs are the largest landforms built by plants and animals. Their study therefore incorporates a wide range of disciplines. This encyclopedia approaches coral reefs from an earth science perspective, concentrating especially on modern reefs. Currently coral reefs are under high stress, most prominently from climate change with changes to water temperature, sea level and ocean acidification particularly damaging. Modern reefs have evolved through the massive environmental changes of the Quaternary with long periods of exposure during glacially lowered sea level periods and short periods of interglacial growth. The entries in this encyclopedia condense the large amount of work carried out since Charles Darwin first attempted to understand reef evolution. Leading authorities from many countries have contributed to the entries covering areas of geology, geography and ecology, providing comprehensive access to the most up-to-date research on the structure, form and processes operating on Quaternary coral reefs.
Author: Peter F. Sale
Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing
ISBN: 9780126151817
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 780
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Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the ecology of coral reef fishes presented by top researchers from North America and Australia. Immense strides have been made over the past twenty years in our understanding of ecological systems in general and of reef fish ecology in particular. Many of the methodologies that reef fish ecologists use in their studies will be useful to a wider audience of ecologists for the design of their ecological studies. Significant among the impacts of the research on reef fish ecology are the development of nonequilibrium models of community organization, more emphasis on the role of recruitment variability in structuring local assemblages, the development and testing of evolutionary models of social organization and reproductive biology, and new insights into predator-prey and plant-herbivore interactions.
Author:
Publisher: Darwin Press Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 186
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Book Description
"Although the beauty and diversity of reef species may appear as marvelous decoration, this biodiversity is important for the survival of the reef community. The various ecological, or functional, roles performed by different species provide a degree of social security enabling the reef community as a whole to sustain itself through time."--From book jacket.
Author: Walter M. Goldberg
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226925374
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410
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Book Description
Reefs provide a wealth of opportunity for learning about biological and ecosystem processes, and reef biology courses are among the most popular in marine biology and zoology departments the world over. Walter M. Goldberg has taught one such course for years, and he marshals that experience in the pages of The Biology of Reefs and Reef Organisms. Goldberg examines the nature not only of coral reefs—the best known among types of reefs—but also of sponge reefs, worm reefs, and oyster reefs, explaining the factors that influence their growth, distribution, and structure. A central focus of the book is reef construction, and Goldberg details the plants and animals that form the scaffold of the reef system and allow for the attachment and growth of other organisms, including those that function as bafflers, binders, and cementing agents. He also tours readers through reef ecology, paleontology, and biogeography, all of which serve as background for the problems reefs face today and the challenge of their conservation. Visually impressive, profusely illustrated, and easy to read, The Biology of Reefs and Reef Organisms offers a fascinating introduction to reef science and will appeal to students and instructors of marine biology, comparative zoology, and oceanography.
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030948538X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 259
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Book Description
Coral reef declines have been recorded for all major tropical ocean basins since the 1980s, averaging approximately 30-50% reductions in reef cover globally. These losses are a result of numerous problems, including habitat destruction, pollution, overfishing, disease, and climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions and the associated increases in ocean temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have been implicated in increased reports of coral bleaching, disease outbreaks, and ocean acidification (OA). For the hundreds of millions of people who depend on reefs for food or livelihoods, the thousands of communities that depend on reefs for wave protection, the people whose cultural practices are tied to reef resources, and the many economies that depend on reefs for fisheries or tourism, the health and maintenance of this major global ecosystem is crucial. A growing body of research on coral physiology, ecology, molecular biology, and responses to stress has revealed potential tools to increase coral resilience. Some of this knowledge is poised to provide practical interventions in the short-term, whereas other discoveries are poised to facilitate research that may later open the doors to additional interventions. A Research Review of Interventions to Increase the Persistence and Resilience of Coral Reefs reviews the state of science on genetic, ecological, and environmental interventions meant to enhance the persistence and resilience of coral reefs. The complex nature of corals and their associated microbiome lends itself to a wide range of possible approaches. This first report provides a summary of currently available information on the range of interventions present in the scientific literature and provides a basis for the forthcoming final report.
Author: Madeleine J. H. van Oppen
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319753932
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357
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Book Description
One of the most serious consequences of global climate change for coral reefs is the increased frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching events and, since the first edition of this volume was published in 2009, there have been additional mass coral bleaching events. This book provides comprehensive information on the causes and consequences of coral bleaching for coral reef ecosystems, from the genes and microbes involved in the bleaching response, to individual coral colonies and whole reef systems. It presents detailed analyses of how coral bleaching can be detected and quantified and reviews future scenarios based on modeling efforts and the potential mechanisms of acclimatisation and adaptation. It also briefly discusses emerging research areas that focus on the development of innovative interventions aiming to increase coral climate resilience and restore reefs.
Author: J.E.N. Veron
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674026797
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 342
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Book Description
Like many coral specialists fifteen years ago, Veron thought Australia's Great Barrier Reef was impervious to climate change. Then he saw for himself the devastation that elevated sea temperatures can inflict on corals.
Author: Dennis K. Hubbard
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9401775672
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 314
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Book Description
In this book, contributors from diverse backgrounds take a first step toward an integrated view of reefs and the significance of their recent decline. More than any other earth system, coral reefs sit at a disciplinary crossroads. Most recently, they have reached another crossroads - fundamental changes in their bio-physical structure greater than those of previous centuries or even millennia. Effective strategies to mitigate recent trends will require an approach that embraces the myriad perspectives from across the scientific landscape, but will also need a mechanism to transform scientific understanding into social will and political implementation.
