¶ … Negative Effects of Artificial Reefs
Artificial reefs are man-made habitats that are created from many different materials to build new marine life communities (Rodriguez, 2004). For many years, fish and shellfish habitats have been damaged or wiped out by the development of new coastal areas, accidents, and major storms. As a result, there has been a decline in different marine life populations. Artificial reefs provide food, shelter, protection, and spawning areas for many species of fish and other marine organisms. However, artificial reefs are not just used for fish. They are also created to provide areas for scuba divers and anglers to use, reducing the human pressures that natural reefs bear on a regular basis.
Natural reefs can be looked at as the rain forests of the seafloor, supporting a broad diversity of species (Bourjaily, 2000). Like many other things found in nature, they often take centuries to mature. Due to pollution, temperature change, dredging, ship groundings, commercial fishing, and recreational diving, the reefs are in danger.
Artificial reefs have been created as a solution to this problem (Bourjaily, 2000). Artificial reefs are not a new concept, but only recently have they become a major aspect the marine environment. The first artificial reefs were made from tires, appliances, sunken ships, junked cars, culverts and concrete rubble. For this reason, they actually do more harm than good.
Artificial reefs come in many forms -- while some are created thoughtfully and purposefully, others are just a cheap way to throw out trash (Goldschmid, 1998). Although most artificial reefs provide some habitat for certain kinds of marine life, these are not always positive areas. Artificial reefs can cause a great deal of damage to natural...
Marine Biology & Drones Drones are being used with increasing frequency in the study of marine life, including for population counts, and behavioral studies. The news media has offered up dramatic images of studies underway, for example of orca populations off the coast of British Columbia, but there are many studies around the world that are using drones. The advantage of drones is that they can fly above marine environments, providing
Dolphins commonly bear one calf at a time. Reproduction occurs every 2 to 3 years and as many as 8 times within their life span (Beach-Net Online). Feeding Fishes are the typical foods of dolphins. Calves (young dolphins) start to eat fish at 3 to 4 months. Adult dolphins can eat up to 14 pounds of fish in a day (Beach-Net Online). Predators Dolphins' predators are the sharks. Sometimes, killer whales also feed
Biology Species within a given population will differentiate due to a sudden and dramatic geological or climatological change. If a volcano erupted on an island like one of those on Vanuatu, the populations of local geckos would start to differentiate depending on where members of that population were before and after the eruption. Statement/Hypothesis: If a volcanic eruption led to lava flows on one side of the island, but not on the
Most fungi can also reproduce through sexual reproduction both with the same organism mixing gametes and with reproduction between two separate organisms. The cells of many fungi are primarily copies of each other, without differentiation of organs (except in the fruiting sections of the organism, such as the mushrooms and molds typically visible and known to humans). 6) Fungi are considered a separate kingdom for several reasons. They are different from
This discovery could lead to cleaner energy, including the technology that could be used by factories and cars to capture carbon dioxide before it reaches the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is polluting the Earth's atmosphere along with damaging coral reefs and marine life and has impacts that are irreversible. Scientists believe that this will be important for potentially getting to a viable carbon dioxide-capture material with ultra-high selectivity. They are optimistic
Environmental Biology: The Effects of Pollution in the Ocean The oceans are being contaminated by pollution caused by oil spills, tanker discharges, untreated municipal wastes and agrochemical residues. Pollution is known to have destabilized many coastal ecosystems and is believed to be responsible for the decline in phytoplankton and consumable shellfish which usually thrive further out to sea. Medical wastes, beach visitors' garbage, waterfront businesses account for most of the toxic
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