Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nature watch

Coral reefs and their fauna: An underwater fantasyland

  • Feature Article
  • Published:
Resonance Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Coral reefs, sometimes called the “the rainforests of the sea” for their extraordinary biological diversity, are one of the most beautiful ecosystems of our planet. These shallow-water ecosystems are distributed in tropical and subtropical oceanic regions and harbour a multitude of life forms with sometimes very complex interactions. Recent threats to the coral reefs as a result of human induced disturbances (leading to large as well as small scale effects), their consequences to reef ecology and possible conservation measures are discussed

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Suggested Reading

  1. P R Ehrlich, The population biology of coral reef fishes,Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, Vol. 6, pp. 211–247, 1975.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. T P Hugheset al., Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs,Science, Vol. 301, pp. 929–933, 2003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. C M Robertset al.; Marine Biodiversity Hot-spots and Conservation Priorities for Tropical Reefs,Science, Vol. 295, pp. 1280–1284, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. P Sale (ed),The Ecology of Fishes on Coral Reefs, Academic Press Inc., San Diego, CA, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  5. P F Sale, Maintenance of High Diversity in Coral Reef Fish Communities,American Naturalist, Vol. 111, pp. 337–359, 1977.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. The Coral Reef Alliance, Internet Resource website —http://www.coralreefalli-ance. org/

  7. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce (2003), Website —http:// coris.noaa.gov/about/hazards/hazards.html.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gatty Marine Laboratory, Unviersity of St. Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, St. Andrews, Scotland, UK

    Anuradha Bhat

Authors
  1. Anuradha Bhat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anuradha Bhat.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bhat, A. Nature watch. Reson 9, 62–73 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02837593

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02837593

Keywords

Search

Navigation