Assess the importance of a chosen marine ecosystem (15)

Coral reefs: diverse/fragile ecosystem, found in coastal areas/tropics/warm waters 23-29degrees C, (temp needed to sustain growth) valuable goods and services, threatened by global warming, rising SST. 1) Biodiverse: can withstand significant disturbances, regulate fish populations, sea cucumbers clean detritus off ocean floor, sharks manage fish populations. 2) Cost-effective shoreline protection: ability to grow with rising sea-levels, dissipate 97percent of wave energy before it reaches the coast. 3) Food/medicine: six million fishermen in 99 reef nations harvest from coral reefs, major contribution to commercial fishing industry, 20percent global animal protein consumed by people comes from the marine environment, marine species - many of which remain unexplored - produce important chemical compounds that may be used to treat human illness e.g. BlueGreen Algae is used to treat arthritis. 4) Healthy reefs support local/global economies: tourist hotspot (snorkeling, sightseeing, education), shallow waters are easily accesssible. Small islands e.g. Bonaire (Caribbean) earns around $23 million p.a. which is a great proportion of their GDP. Ornamental objects, jewellery trade. Further exploitation of this ecosystem could lead to losses of $140 - $420 million p.a. by 2050. Concluding: management is a complex process, requires ivolvement from all stakeholders, degredation of the reef will lead to significant social and economic impacts as well as irreversible ecological impacts too.