Definitions for coral reef
coral reef

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. coral reefnoun

   a reef consisting of coral consolidated into limestone

WiktionaryRate this definition:2.0 / 2 votes

1. coral reefnoun

   A mound or hummock of compacted coral skeletons

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Coral reef

   A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect the coral. Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated water. Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago, at the dawn of the Early Ordovician, displacing the microbial and sponge reefs of the Cambrian.Sometimes called rainforests of the sea, shallow coral reefs form some of Earth's most diverse ecosystems. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean area, about half the area of France, yet they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, tunicates and other cnidarians. Coral reefs flourish in ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They are most commonly found at shallow depths in tropical waters, but deep water and cold water coral reefs exist on smaller scales in other areas. Coral reefs have declined by 50% since 1950, partly because they are sensitive to water conditions. They are under threat from excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), rising ocean heat content and acidification, overfishing (e.g., from blast fishing, cyanide fishing, spearfishing on scuba), sunscreen use, and harmful land-use practices, including runoff and seeps (e.g., from injection wells and cesspools).Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services for tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection. The annual global economic value of coral reefs has been estimated at anywhere from US$30–375 billion (1997 and 2003 estimates) to US$2.7 trillion (a 2020 estimate) to US$9.9 trillion (a 2014 estimate).

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. coral reef

   A coral reef is a large underwater structure formed over thousands of years from the deposit of calcium carbonate by tiny marine animals called corals. These reefs are home to a diverse collection of species, exhibiting an array of vibrant colors and complex structures, and are found in shallow, warm ocean waters. Coral reefs play vital roles in marine ecosystem by providing food, spawning and nursery grounds for a wide variety of fish and marine species, as well as offering protection from waves and storms.

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Coral reef

   Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps belong to a group of animals known as Cnidaria, which also includes sea anenomes and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, coral polyps secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons which support and protect their bodies. Reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated waters. Often called "rainforests of the sea", coral reefs form some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface, about half the area of France, yet they provide a home for 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, tunicates and other cnidarians. Paradoxically, coral reefs flourish even though they are surrounded by ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They 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. Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services to tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection. The annual global economic value of coral reefs was estimated at US$ 375 billion in 2002. However, coral reefs are fragile ecosystems, partly because they are very sensitive to water temperature. They are under threat from climate change, oceanic acidification, blast fishing, cyanide fishing for aquarium fish, overuse of reef resources, and harmful land-use practices, including urban and agricultural runoff and water pollution, which can harm reefs by encouraging excess algal growth.

Matched Categories

1. • Reef

How to pronounce coral reef?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say coral reef in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of coral reef in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of coral reef in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of coral reef in a Sentence

1. Daniel Whittle:

   Cuba is considered the crown jewel of the Caribbean, principally because of its incredible coral reef ecosystems, its mangroves, its sea grasses, healthy sharks mean healthy corals. Healthy corals mean healthy sharks.

2. Sean Connolly:

   The severity and frequency of these [bleaching] events means slow-growing corals won't have time to come back, if all the coral bleaches and dies, it's no longer a coral reef. The coral skeletons are quickly colonized by algae which turns them dark in color.

3. Craig Downs:

   You can have an El Niño climate change impact on a coral reef ; let's say it kills 40 % of the coral, but if you have swimmers there with sunscreen pollution, you're not going to have new generations coming in. So you're going to see the slow decline of the coral reefs in the area. And then you get an undersea, desolate landscape of just muck and mud and sand.

4. Campaigner Cherry Muddle:

   In Australia, to do our share, we really need to slash our emissions reductions by 75 % by 2030 and that is to hold global warming to less than 1.5 degrees which is the critical threshold for the survival of coral reef as we know it, we can create jobs, we can protect the reef, if we only embrace clean energy technology and stop all new coal and gas developments.

5. Roger Germann:

   And just think, a solution to the next pandemic or human illness could be discovered from healthy coral reef.

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=coral reef
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Coral_Reef
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Reef
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=coral reef