The Great Barrier Reef
Changing environment effecting the reef
Introduction
The Great Barrier Reef is located on the coastline of Queensland, Australia stretching from Cape York in the north to Bundaberg in the south. It is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. (1)
This reef has the most biodiverse ecosystems and is home to thousands of species. This long strip of reef helps not only keep species richness alive but also helps protect the coastline from waves and storm destruction
Home to thousands of species, the Great Barrier Reef allows protection and housing for roughly 1,500 fish species, 6 marine turtle species, 1,200 coral species, whales, dolphins, sponges, crustaceans, and marine worms.
Different habitats that the Great Barrier Reef has are the coral reefs, mangroves, deep ocean, and sea grass estuaries. (3)
The reef has been experiencing many environmental effects due to climate change, unsustainable tourism, overfishing, and ocean acidification,
We will look at the implications of these impacts and how conservation policy has helped protect and conserve the coral reef and many of the animals that live there, as well as other future solutions through technology.
Importance of the Reef
The reefs is home to thousands of different species and has a thriving ecosystem that allow for like to flourish in the ocean.
It is known as a "crucial reservoir for marine biodiversity." (1)
The reef allows for a balanced ecosystem and is a large web of life in the ocean. (4)
The reef is also a very popular spot to go fishing. Which economically benefits the local communites.M
The fishery industry is very popular in this area. It provides a food source for the local communities (1)
This is also a tourism attraction where people love to visit (1)
The coral reef fish bring economical, social, and cultural benefits to the communities. (10)
This tourism attraction generates thousands of dollars to the Australian neighboring cities
Some of these attractions include, snorkeling, deep sea diving, site seeing, sailing, parasailing, scuba diving. (5)
Species that Inhabit the Reef
Parrotfish (6)
Here is a parrotfish that is most commonly found in the Great Barrier Reef.
About 90 species of Parrotfish are found here.
These fish use their brittle teeth to naw at the coral . An interesting fact about these fish is that they are one of the causes for coral erosion because they destroy the structure of the coral and rocks.
Green turtle (7)
Something very special about the reef is that it is home to 7 different species of turtles .
There are many conservation programs including the Green Turtle research program that was enacted from the government of Australia, to protect the species of turtles.
Turtles are very important to the ecosystem because they help maintain the seagrass as well as coral reef health which are the habitats for thousand other species. (8)
Coral reefs (9)
Coral reefs are the most important part of the Great Barrier Reef. There are roughly 800 species of coral that reside in this area.
Coral reefs are important because they are housing for many of the fish and other species, are a food source for some. They are protective barriers for coastlines from destruction of storms, and allow for a biodiverse ocean. (10)
SO WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE REEF. . . . .
What is harming the reef?
Overfishing
This leads to depletion of key coral species, which creates a huge effect to the ecosystem and food web.
Fishing too many of the big fish at fast rates leads them to not be able to replenish in time
Unsustainable fishing techniques also impacts the reef.
Nets can catch herbivorous fishes that eat the algae and help balance the ecosystem
Spears can damage the reefs and seagrass beds which harms them. (10)
Coral Bleaching
The effects of climate change are causing the coral reefs to bleach
Bleaching occurs when temperatures, light or nutrients change causing a release of algae in the tissues making the coral white.
The rising ocean temperature have caused these coral reefs to stress and bleach.
Ocean Acidification
The ocean acidifying is caused when higher concentrates of CO2 cause the water pH levels to decrease making the water more acidic.
This affects the coral reef due to make the water temperatures increasing and making them more stressed leading to bleaching and dying marine life.( 11)
Shown in the graph is the aragonite saturation which tracks the carbonate ions and is used for tracking acidification. We can see that near the reef there are high amounts of change in these ions in the ocean.
Policies in Place
Saving the Reef
The Australian government has put in place a plan to help the reef called the Reef 2050 Plan
Main areas of action:
- limit the impacts of climate change
- reduce the impacts from land-based activities
- reduce impacts from water-based activities
- influence the reduction of international sources of impact
- protect, rehabilitate and restore (13)
These actions are going to help benefit the reef, as well as protect the reef from these factors.
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The Queensland government is going to invest roughly 1 billion dollars to fund action that will better protect the reef.
Image of the coral reef (14)
One conservation success was creating the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park which saved the reef from mining in 1975. (14) Large oil spills lead to the campaign of 'Protect the Reef', which led to the Marine park being instated which save the reef from environmental hazards like the oil spill.
Regulation on land-based management have been implemented. Water quality programs have been funded so that runoff or waste water do not impact the concentration of the ocean. Eco-tourism has also been a better increase instead of tourism that has been harming the wildlife. (16)
Regulating the amount that the fishery industries are fishing and taking from the reef are also being regulated to better protect the species and the reef.
