What Exactly Is Coral?
Summary
TLDRThe video explores the fascinating world of coral, which from a distance appears as mossy rock, but up close reveals tiny animals called coral polyps. These polyps build reefs using calcium carbonate skeletons and have a symbiotic relationship with algae living inside them. The algae provide up to 90% of the coral's food through photosynthesis, but warming oceans are disrupting this vital connection, leading to coral bleaching. Scientists in Hawaii are studying coral bleaching and its effects, aiming to use this knowledge to help reefs survive in a changing climate.
Takeaways
- đż Coral, from a distance, looks like mossy rock or bone, but up close, it appears to be covered in tiny animals called coral polyps.
- đ Each coral polyp has a round body with a mouth surrounded by tentacles, and a simple gut to digest food.
- đïž Reef-building corals create a skeleton of calcium carbonate, essentially forming rock-like structures.
- đ Corals are colonial organisms, where new polyps bud off, creating a living, genetically identical colony.
- đŻ Corals are hunters, using tentacles lined with stinging cells to capture prey, though thereâs little to catch in clear warm waters.
- đ Corals have a symbiotic relationship with tiny algae living inside their cells, which photosynthesize and provide up to 90% of the coral's food.
- â ïž Rising ocean temperatures disrupt the symbiosis between corals and algae, leading to coral bleaching.
- đŹ Scientists are studying coral bleaching, simulating future ocean conditions to understand how warming oceans affect coral-algae relationships.
- đïž Corals are a foundation species, building reef structures that support a wide variety of marine life.
- đ» Coral bleaching leaves corals pale and ghost-like, as they lose their vibrant algae but still retain their structural skeleton.
Q & A
What does coral look like from a distance and up close?
-From a distance, coral looks like mossy rock or bone. Up close, it appears to be covered in tiny flowers, which are actually coral polypsâsmall animals.
What is a coral polyp and how is it structured?
-A coral polyp is a small animal with a round body, a mouth on top surrounded by a ring of tentacles. Inside, it has a simple gut lined with tissue that helps digest food.
How do reef-building corals create their skeleton?
-Reef-building corals lay down a skeleton made of calcium carbonate, essentially forming rock. These corals are colonial, with new polyps budding off and connecting to one another, forming a living veneer.
How do coral polyps feed in nutrient-poor waters?
-Corals have a symbiotic relationship with algae called symbionts. The algae photosynthesize, producing sugars that provide up to 90% of the coral's food. In return, the algae get a protected home inside the coral's cells.
What happens to corals when ocean temperatures rise too high?
-When ocean temperatures rise, corals experience 'bleaching,' a process where they expel the algae living in their cells. Without these algae, corals lose their primary food source and become pale as the animal's clear tissues reveal the white skeleton beneath.
What is the role of the symbiotic algae in coral survival?
-The algae living inside coral cells are vital for the coral's survival. They photosynthesize, providing up to 90% of the coral's food. Without them, the coral would struggle to survive, and without coral, the reef ecosystem would collapse.
How does coral bleaching affect the coral's appearance?
-During bleaching, the coral loses its vibrant color as the algae are expelled. The coral's clear tissue reveals its white calcium carbonate skeleton, giving it a ghost-like appearance.
What are scientists studying at the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology?
-Scientists, including Dr. Ruth Gates, are studying the mechanism of coral bleaching and how to help corals adapt to rising ocean temperatures. They simulate future ocean conditions to observe how living corals respond to environmental stress.
Why are corals considered foundation species?
-Corals are considered foundation species because they build the reef structures that support a vast array of other marine life. Without coral, the reef ecosystem would collapse.
What is the significance of the symbiosis between corals and algae?
-The symbiosis between corals and algae is crucial because the coral relies on the algae for most of its food, while the algae receive shelter. This relationship is essential for the health of coral reefs and the biodiversity they support.
Outlines
đ What is Coral? An Introduction to Coral Polyps
This paragraph explains what coral is, describing it as a colony of coral polyps, small animal organisms that build a skeleton of calcium carbonate, which forms reefs. The polyps are genetically identical and are connected in colonies. They use their tentacles lined with stinging cells to catch prey. However, in the nutrient-poor waters where they live, they rely heavily on a symbiotic relationship with algae that live inside their cells to produce up to 90% of their food through photosynthesis.
đ„ Coral Bleaching: The Breakdown of a Symbiotic Relationship
This paragraph delves into the process of coral bleaching, which occurs when ocean temperatures rise, disrupting the relationship between coral and the algae living inside them. As a response to stress, the coral expels the algae, which leads to bleaching, a phenomenon where the coral loses its color and vitality. Without this symbiosis, coral reefsâessential to marine lifeâcannot survive, putting entire ecosystems at risk. The paragraph describes how scientists are studying this process to understand and combat coral bleaching.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄCoral
đĄPolyp
đĄCalcium carbonate
đĄSymbiosis
đĄAlgae
đĄBleaching
đĄFoundation species
đĄKeystone species
đĄCoral bleaching microscope
đĄClimate change
Highlights
Coral from a distance appears like mossy rock, but up close, each flower-like structure is actually an animal known as a coral polyp.
A coral polyp has a round body, a mouth, and tentacles; inside it has a simple gut that helps digest food.
Reef-building corals create a calcium carbonate skeleton, essentially forming rock-like structures.
Corals are colonial animals, genetically identical, connected to each other to form a living veneer.
Corals are hunters, using millions of stinging cells on their tentacles to capture prey, although food is scarce in warm, clear waters.
Coral survival relies on symbiosis with tiny algae (symbionts) living inside their cells. These algae photosynthesize, providing up to 90% of the coral's food.
The coral-algae relationship is critical for reef building, with the algae producing sugars for the coral through photosynthesis.
Due to warming oceans, coral reefs are rapidly disappearing as coral bleaching becomes more frequent.
Scientists are working on ways to help reefs survive by understanding the connection between corals and their symbiotic algae.
At the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology, researchers are studying coral bleaching and the coral-algae relationship.
Dr. Ruth Gates has been studying coral reefs for over 25 years, focusing on how coral bleaching occurs and its effects.
Researchers use a specialized microscope to simulate future ocean conditions, enabling them to observe coral bleaching as it happens.
Coral reefs are foundation species, essential for the survival of many marine ecosystems.
When ocean temperatures rise, corals expel their algae, leading to bleaching and a breakdown in their symbiotic relationship.
Some corals expel their algae in clouds, while others do so in tiny clumps over days, causing the coral to turn pale and lose its vibrant color.
Transcripts
what is coral
from a distance
it looks like mossy rock or bone
[Music]
up close it appears to be covered in
tiny flowers
but each of those flowers are actually
an animal
a coral pollen
a round body topped with a mouth
surrounded by a ring of tentacles
inside there is a simple gut
lined with long threads of tissue that
help digest the coral's food
reef building corals lay down a skeleton
of calcium carbonate essentially rock
corals are colonial butting off new
polyps
each one connected to the one next to it
and genetically identical
forming a living veneer
corals are hunters
their tentacles are lined with millions
of stinging cells that kill what they
catch
they are super weapons on a micro scale
[Music]
but in the clear warm water where corals
live
there's not much to catch
so
how do corals find food
the secret to their success is in their
relationship with a plant
living right inside their cells are tiny
algae
plant cells known as symbionts
like all plants they photosynthesize
using energy from the sun they produce
sugars
enough food for themselves and for their
coral host
it's extraordinary biology
an almost alien relationship where the
algae gets a home and the coral gets up
to 90 percent of its food
and together they build the reef
[Music]
but because of warming oceans there's
been a massive breakdown in this crucial
relationship
and the reef as we know it
is disappearing
fast
if science can help the reef survive
the answer may lay halfway around the
world
on a tiny hawaiian island scientists are
trying to understand the connection
between coral and the plant inside them
and use that knowledge to speed up
evolution
i'm at the hawaiian institute of marine
biology where
ruth gates does her research it's an
ideal facility
over here you can grow corals
and over here you can grow hammerhead
sharks
but what's really amazing is that we are
right on a coral reef
dr ruth gates has been studying corals
for over 25 years
inspired by a love of the reef
the coral reef is a vibrant natural city
it's got texture it's got color
it's got movement you're surrounded by
extraordinary things
ruth and her team are investigating the
mechanism of coral bleaching
what happens when temperatures get too
high for coral
hi
great to see you welcome beautiful lab
welcome
this special microscope lets ruth and
biologist amy eggers
raise the water temperature to simulate
warming oceans
and observe what happens to living coral
as it bleaches
this is the only microscope in the world
that's equipped
to simulate future ocean conditions that
allows you to visualize a living
organism
so you can really see how it's a
colonial animal here can't you all of
those
polyps
[Music]
the number of algal cells or symbionts
living throughout the coral is
staggering
around a million in every square
centimeter an area the size of your
thumbnail
coral builds the reef structure that
supports so much other life so it's
called a foundation species
coral is a foundation species
then
the symbiosis themselves are clearly a
keystone species because
the coral cannot survive
without them and if the coral doesn't
survive the reef will not survive
[Music]
when ocean temperatures get too high
the coral rejects the algae living
inside it
in the process called bleaching
coral bleaching is really the breakdown
of this relationship between these plant
cells and the animal itself
the plant cells react to high
temperature and instead of creating food
they produce an irritant to the coral
when the animal gets stressed
somehow they break the connection and
the plant cells are ousted from the
system
some corals belch clouds of their
life-giving algal cells
others release them over days in tiny
clumps
what you see as the coral goes pale
is just the clear tissues of the animal
overlaying the white skeleton
[Music]
bleached but still living coral can
clearly be seen under powerful
magnification
it's become a ghost cottage hasn't it
like you know all the structure is still
there but none of the color none of the
vibrancy
that is a spooky image
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