Coral Reef Ecological Landscape

This is a type of ecological landscape under the water with coral reefs as the main feature. Coral reefs are built from colonies of dead stony corals, and they are composed of cohesive biological skeletons and loose clastic sediments. They provide a base for many marine species to live. Because the coral reef is a stable environment and has adequate sunlight, it facilitates the formation of a unique marine environment that is different from the surroundings. It is home to many benthos on the sediment surface and in the subsurface layers, and it is a zone of biodiversity. Coral reefs are mainly located in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region (including the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and Pacific Ocean). Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef ecological landscape (Fig. 50).

Fig. 50

Coral reef ecological landscape