How Do Nutrients Cycle in Coral Reefs?
Coral reefs are very efficient at recycling nutrients. Animal life provides many of the nutrients required for life attached to the reef. That life, in turn, feeds marine animals. Microbes work to break down toxic biological wastes like fecal material and dead tissues.WaterThe water around coral reefs is usually not nutrient-rich. As a result, nutrients for the inhabitants of the reef must either come from nutrient cycling or from outside sources.Regenerated NutrientsRegenerated nutrients, or nutrient cycling, can come from a number of sources. Fecal matter from marine animals provides nutrients for marine plants and other life. Those plants and other life, in turn, provide food for marine animals.New NutrientsNutrients close to shore or close to underwater volcanic activity can inject new nutrients into coral reef systems. In most cases, this runoff is in the form of nitrogen that benefits green growth in the reef.Role of Holes in the ReefMany coral reefs have holes. Waste and silt ca
Coral reefs recycle nutrients in many ways, but one in particular is a very unique. Coral animals (polyps) contain tiny plant cells called zooxanthellae within their tissues. In this symbiotic relationship, the plant cells utilize the animals’ metabolic waste products like CO2 as part of the photosynthetic process, thereby creating new “food” in the form of carbohydrates and proteins. These food resources are then used by the animals to produce energy, and more metabolic waste products are created in the process. It is this unique recycling program made possible by the symbiotic plants with living coral tissues that allow coral reefs to flourish in nutrient depleted waters.
