Climate

Works Cited
 
With loads of sunshine, warm seas,  “Coral Reef Biome Facts.” ​Math​,  
refreshing sea breezes and a warm climate  www.softschools.com/facts/biomes/coral_reef Welcome to
all year round, North East Australia is hard  _biome_facts/168/. 
“Coral Reef Biome.” A ​ nimal Facts and  
The Great Barrier Reef
to beat. This climate is one of the many  Information​,  18.2871° S, 147.6992° E
reasons so many travelers come to visit.  www.bioexpedition.com/coral-reef-biome/. 
“Great Barrier Reef Weather & Climate.”  
Great Barrier Reef Weather & Climate​, 
www.great-barrier-reef.com/great-barrier-reef-
weather.html.
“Where Is the Great Barrier Reef?” ​Great Barrier Reef​,  
Travelmate.com.au, 
maps.travelmate.com.au/Places/Featured_Reg
ions.asp?RegionId=20. 
“Great Barrier Reef Facts for Kids - Pictures &  
Information.” Fun Science & Technology for 
Fun Fact!​ More than 2 million Kids, Science Kids , 
www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/earth/grea
tourists visit the reef each year. tbarrierreef.html. 
LaRoche, Carolyn. “Symbiotic Relationships in Coral  
Reefs.” Sciencing, Leaf Group Education. 
Average temper​atures​ ​in summer  “Plant & Animal Adaptations.” ​Coral Reef​,  
coralreefbrawner.weebly.com/plant--animal-ad
range from 75​o​F to 91​o ​F, and from 57​o​F to  aptations.html. 
78​o​F in the winter.  “Facts About The Great Barrier Reef.” Great Barrier  
Reef, 
 
www.greatbarrierreef.org/about-the-reef/great
-barrier-reef-facts/. 
“Great Barrier Reef Food Web.” G ​ reat Barrier Reef  
Australia​, 
greatbarrierreef.com.au/information/great-bar
rier-reef-food-web/. 
  “To ​travel​ is to take a journey
  into yourself.”
Fiona Jones
fionajones013@gmail.com - Danny Kaye
914-380-6294
Average Rainfall​ ​in the Northeast  C Block 246
region of Australia is 2010 mm each year (an 
average of 168 mm per month). 
 LOCATION  Local Faunta Local Flora
  (Native animals) (Native Plants)

The Great Barrier Reef 

- Hard coral/Sponges - Blue-Green Algae
is the largest coral reef 
biome on earth and is  - 1,500+ types of ​fish
located off the ​north 
east coast​of Australia.  

- Red Algae
- Sea Turtles
- Zooxanthellae

- Dolphins/Whales
The Great Barrier Reef covers more than  - Molluscs - Halimeda
1,200 miles and contains 600 species of 
hard and soft coral. 

- Dugongs - Seagrass

- Mangrove

Fun Fact! ​Astronauts can Even

see the Reef from outer space!
Fun fact!​ Dugongs are the only
completely marine mammal that
only eats plants.
 Faunal Adaptations Floral Adaptations Symbiotic Relationships
- Over time, fish have adapted a body  - Plants, such as seagrass, in coral reefs  Fish and Anemones
structure to easily maneuver through  have larger cells, an evolutionary 
the coral. This flat, pancake-like  adaptation which allows them to 
structure, makes escaping predators  obtain the most possible light from the 
and hiding in coral more easy.    sun through the water.   
 

Anemones are known for their m ​ utually 

beneficial relationships with clownfish and 
anemone fish, who take shelter and live 
within the anemone’s tentacles. The fish 
also protect the anemone from predators, 
  such as the butterfly fish.   
- Certain coral species have adapted and   
created the ability to produce toxins  - Zooxanthellae have adapted to live  Sea Stars and Hard Coral
which keep away predators.  only inside the crevices of coral. In 
  exchange for the protection the coral 
provides, the zooxanthellae provides 
the coral with needed nutrients. 
 

In this is a ​parasitic​relationship, the sea 

stars find food in the polyps of the coral, 
 
 
but the coral is stripped down to its 
  skeleton and left to die. Sea stars have been 
Fun Fact!​ The Reef is made up of  
known to devastate entire coral reef 
more than 2,900 individual reefs   colonies. 
and 900 islands!    
   
 The Great Barrier Food    
Web    
    As seen in this food web, every animal is 
  dependent​on the each other in some way. 
  The extinction of one level will eventually 
  lead to a decline in another, and thus every 
  biotic and abiotic​function among the 
  food web is extremely important. 
 
 
Algae and other p
​ roducers​convert light 
 
from the sun into energy through 
 
photosynthesis. They make their own food 
 
and therefore are the base of the food web.   
   
  Primary consumers​in the Reef include 
  animals which only eat plants, such as 
  plankton, krill, and sea urchins. 
   

  Secondary consumers​include sea stars, 

  clown fish, and whale sharks. They eat the 
  primary consumers and plants.   
 
 
Tertiary consumers​, which eat secondary 
 
consumers, include sea snakes, the octopus, 
 
and sea turtles.   
   
  Finally, q
​ uaternary consumers​in the 
  Reef are the tiger shark, whale shark and 
  moray eel. These animals eat all of the 
    other consumers and producers.   
     

 
Decomposers​are fungi and bacteria. They 
break dead organisms down into minerals 
and elements.