Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
KeyStone Species of the Coral Reef
276
What animal is a
Keystone species
in Coral Reefs?
ALEX HONG
Period 5
January 8, 2019
Coral Reefs tend to be near the Equator
Locations of coral reefs
Reefs don't trend too far from warm water
To Name a Few
- Great Barrier reef for example is 18.2871° S and 147.6992° E
The Great Barrier is the largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometers .
- There are other reefs around the world:
- African coral reefs - 0.051377°S 50.846055°E
- Amazon Reef - 1°N 49°W
Sharks are one of many keystone species
Sharks!!!
How do they affect coral reefs?
Impact on the food web
Dangerous they face
Sharks play an important role
How do they affect coral reefs?
- Reef Sharks the apex predator
- Blacktip
- Gray
- Caribbean
- Whitetip
- Silvertip
Characteristics
Whitetip
Whitetip Reef Shark
- Average length is between 5.2 ft - 6.9 ft
- Maximum weight recorded is 40lb
- Have a slim body and a short and broad head
- Their eyes are small
- Have ranged between 42 - 50 tooth rows with both upper and lower jaws
Caribbean
Carribbean reef shark
- Heavy - bodied
- Average measures are between 6.6 - 9.8 ft
- Maximum weight is 150lb
- Coloration: dark gray or gray brown above and white - yellow below
- They play a major role in shaping Caribbean reef communities
Gray Reef
Gray Reef Sharks
- Has a streamlined, moderately stout body with a long blunt snout
- Has large eyes
- Coloration: gray above and bronxe sheen white below
- Lenght is between 6.2 - 8.5 ft
Blacktip
Blacktip Shark
- Has a "typical shark" form
- Has a short, wide, rounded snout with a moderately large ovral eyes
- Average length is between 5.9 - 6.6 ft
- Maximum weight 30lb
- Coloration: pale grayish - brown above and white below
These apex predator's diet consist of:
Other
Its diet is composed primarily of small teleost fishes, including mullet, groupers, grunters, jacks, mojarras, wrasses, surgeonfish, and smelt-whitings. Groups of blacktip reef sharks in the Indian Ocean have been observed herding schools of mullet against the shore for easier feeding.
Affects
Control Population
Sharks are like the police force.
And the loss of sharks has led to the decline in coral reefs, sea-grass beds and the loss of commercial fisheries.
Through spatial controls and abundance, sharks indirectly maintain the sea-grass and coral reef habitats
The importance of keystone species
Impact on the Food Web
Keystone species: a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically.
Coral Reef Food Web
Food Web
Impact
Impact
By taking sharks out of the coral reef ecosystem, the larger predatory fish, such as groupers, increase in abundance and feed on the herbivores. With less herbivores, macro algae expands and coral can no longer compete, shifting the ecosystem to one of algae dominance, affecting the survival of the reef system.
Dangers
Dangers Sharks Face
Commerical Fishing
Over Fishing
This is the biggest threat to sharks and their cousins (skates and rays). They are often over fished. Sharks are fished for their fins.
https://youtu.be/e6Q4MHX-GIs
Habitat Degradation
- Sharks depend on a healthy ecosystems to survive and find prey.
- Degradation includes: climate change, pollution and destruction of habitat
- These areas are used for both breeding for the adults and hunting for the young shark pups
Habitat Degradation
Commerical Fisheries
Bycatch
Bycatch is an unintentional capture. These sharks and other animals are often killed or are thrown back, but they usually drown due to injuries.
Work Cited
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacktip_reef_shark
- https://eu.oceana.org/en/importance-sharks
- https://sharkfactsforkids.weebly.com/reef-shark.html
- https://discoverthecoralreef.weebly.com/food-web.html
- http://www.greatbarrierreef.org/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reef_shark