Coral reefs

12. Consider the following statements

1. Most of the world’s coral reefs are in tropical waters.
2. More than one third of the world’s coral reefs are located in the territories of Australia, Indonesia and Philippines.
3. Coral reefs host far more number of animal phyla than those hosted by tropical rainforests.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1,2 and 3

Ans: d) 1,2 and 3

Explanation:-

• Coral Reefs are most commonly found at shallow depths in tropical waters, but deep water and cold water corals also exist on smaller scales in other areas.
• With Reefs like Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Indonesia and Philippines have more than one-third of the world‘s coral reefs.
• Coral reef have more diversity than tropical rainforest. Occupying less than one percent of the ocean floor, coral reefs are home to more than twenty-five percent of marine life now.

• Coral reefs are found in circum-tropical shallow tropical waters along the shores of islands and continents. The reef substrate is mainly composed of calcium carbonate from living and dead corals. Many other invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants live in close association to the corals, with tight resource coupling and recycling, allowing coral reefs to have extremely high productivity and biodiversity, such that they are referred to as ‘the Tropical Rainforests of the Oceans’.
• Coral reefs are believed by many to have the highest biodiversity of any ecosystem on the planet—even more than a tropical rainforest.
• Major Regions of Coral Reef Development
• Globally, three major regions of coral reef development are generally recognized, each with a somewhat distinctive biota. These are:

(1) The Indo-Pacific – Includes most of the Indian Ocean (excluding the Red Sea), and the western Pacific.
(2) The Wider Caribbean(tropical western Atlantic) – Includes Florida, The Bahamas, Caribbean Sea proper, and coastal waters off northeastern S. America.
(3) The Red Sea

• Thus Australia, Indonesia and Philippines cover one-third area.