biotic & abiotic factors
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef ecosystem in the world. It has a biodiversity that makes it one of the most complex biomes on Earth, therefor it is no surprise that it relies heavily on its biotic and abiotic factors to keep it working and stable.
Biotic Factors
Biotic factors in the Great Barrier Reef include the coral, marine animals, plants and bacteria. The coral acts as the backbone to the reef it consists of polyps (tiny creatures that act like ants as they colonize), which colonize and create coral. It is this coral, made of the polyps old calcium carbonate shell, that stands as the base for the Great Barrier Reef's ecosystem. There are several different shapes coral can have including an antler, fan, brain or fan shape. The coral found in the Great Barrier Reef is important to the reef in the habitat that it provides for the marine animals.
The fish, crabs, sea urchins and sea turtles all act as biotic factors in this reef. The primary consumers are made of zooplankton and herbivorous fish, and the secondary consumers are fish that eat barnacles or coral polyps. At the top of the food chain there are the big fish, which include sharks, barracudas, and eels.
Other biotic factors include plants and bacteria, they serve as the producers and the decomposers of the Great Barrier Reef. Plants convert sunlight into energy for food, and they serve as the next meal for the primary consumers. Bacteria on the other hand decomposes what is left of plants and dead organic matter and converts it into energy for other animals in the ecosystem.
The fish, crabs, sea urchins and sea turtles all act as biotic factors in this reef. The primary consumers are made of zooplankton and herbivorous fish, and the secondary consumers are fish that eat barnacles or coral polyps. At the top of the food chain there are the big fish, which include sharks, barracudas, and eels.
Other biotic factors include plants and bacteria, they serve as the producers and the decomposers of the Great Barrier Reef. Plants convert sunlight into energy for food, and they serve as the next meal for the primary consumers. Bacteria on the other hand decomposes what is left of plants and dead organic matter and converts it into energy for other animals in the ecosystem.
Abiotic Factors
The Great Barrier Reef's abiotic factors include temperature, sunlight, buoyancy, viscosity, and light penetration. Temperature and light are two very important abiotic factors in any ecosystem, however buoyant, viscosity and light penetration are specific to this aquatic ecosystem. Buoyancy refers to "the force that supports the weight of of an organism." Viscosity is the resistance any animal or moving object has to sea water, and light penetration is the amount of light that gets through the sea water. Light can only penetrate around twenty meters of sea water, thus making the plant life tall enough or close enough to the surface to be able to reach the sunlight for photosynthesis.