To Get Things Started


what a team of experts should know before beginning this investigation...

First, and possibly most importantly corals are NOT reefs.  Corals are a living organism that make reefs, which is why they are often called coral reefs.

   
There are three types of coral reefs:

    fringing reefs which develop around a landmass in the water (often around an island or on the edges of a continent),

    barrier reefs which are separated from the landmass by a lagoon, and

    atolls which are a circle of reefs that enclose a lagoon-like area, but which do not surround any above-sea-level landmass.


Coral reefs are large, sedimentary rock structures.  They are made up of the calcareous skeletal structure which is secreted by living organisms, mainly coral and algae.

        a calcareous skeleton is a skeleton made up of calcium carbonate (CaCO3)


All reef-building corals are hermatypic (ask your coral reef expert what that means).


Live corals, in general, are also called mixotrophs.
        a mixotroph is an organism that gets part of its nutrition from another
            organism


Coral reefs contain the greatest diversity of marine animal species of any biocommunity with 25% of all marine species.


There is a lot more information out there on corals, coral reefs, and their symbiotic partners, but this information should be a good start. 


P.S.  The Organization does not mind if you copy this page, print it out, and use it to make notes as you continue your research.  As a matter of fact, the Organization suggests that you do just that.