Kelp Forests and Coral Gardens

Amanda Dougherty

Geography of Coral Reef and Kelp Forest Locations Worldwide

Climate & Physical Conditions

Light Enough to support photosynthesis. Growing in

surface water with depths ranging from a few meters to 100 meters.

Temperature Needs Coral needs temperatures > 20 degrees C usually

ranging from 23 to 25 degrees C. Kelp can grow in temperatures < 10 degrees C in the

winter to rising above 20 degrees C in the summer months

Chemical Conditions Needed

Oxygen is needed for both coral and kelp to grow.

Salt Kelp can grow in areas that have less salinity

although salt is still a necessity. Coral Reefs can only grow in areas where

there is a stable salinity level. Anything below a level of 27% can be lethal. This can be caused by heavy rainfall or runoffs

Biology

Coral reefs and kelp beds are the most productive and diverse of all ecological systems. There are over 600 different kinds of coral and over

2000 species of fish living in a newly formed reef. Over 100 species of worms and over 75 species of fish

can live on 1 coral head. Kelp beds are estimated to home 800 species of

animals and about 130 species of plants and other photosynthetic organisms.

Biology

Human Influences

Kelp is harvested for food and fertilizerCoral reefs are harvested for decorationsCoral reefs are also heavily fished for food

and aquarium trades. Fish are now becoming rare.

Destructive means of fishing using dynamite and poison

Human Influences

References

Google.com http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&um=1&q=coral+reef+decorations&sa=N&start=42&ndsp=21

Molles Jr., 2010 Ecology: Concepts and Applications, 5th edition. WCB/McGraw Publishers, Boston.