The Great Barrier Reef By Halli Klinger

The loss of biodiversity has consequences

How do we affect the biodiversity in the Great Barrier Reef?

Sharing the planet

I chose to do this inquiry because I've once before inquired into coral and it's different species but after that inquiry, I've always wanted to look deeper into endangered sea life and it's threats. I thought doing an inquiry will deepen my thinking into sea life and also the different perspectives of people who care and who don't. E.g an oil spill a business man would not care about sea life he would just care about the loss of supplies, but a environmentalist would only care about the sea life. I hope you enjoy learning and watching as mush as I did making it

Fun facts

>175 species of bird >1500 species of fish >350 species of hard coral >5000 species of molluscs ~1500 species of sponges (~30 per cent of Australia’s diversity in sponges) ~500 species of marine algae ~80 species (one third) of the world’s soft coral and sea pen species ~800 species of echinoderms (e.g. for sea stars; = 13 per cent of the world’s total species) ~2200 species of native plants (representing 25 per cent of Queensland’s total native plant species).

This is how we live every day and how it affects the Great Barrier Reef

Littering: every 2 plastic bags that you throw on the floor will kill a part of sea life.

Climate change: increasing sea temperatures coral bleaching and ecological break down.

Sedimentation: farming, mining, and logging kills the reef by by dumping sediments on the coral.

Destructive fishing: sea grasses and breading are destroyed by bottom trawling blasting and reef pounding.

Tourism: unsustainable tourism can crush fragile corals and pollute the reef habitat.

There are growing threats to the Great Barrier Reef, but none so great as climate change. Climate change is the biggest threat to the reef’s future. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Outlook Report for the Great Barrier Reef in 2009 stated: “the threats of increasing sea temperature, ocean acidification and rising sea level are assessed as very high risk to the ecosystem. The reef has already experienced two mass coral bleaching events in 1998 and 2002. Bleaching was more severe in 2002.

How can we help

Buy food with less packaging. Buy fruit and veg not in a plastic bag. Don't release balloons outside. Switch to reusable bags e.g green bags. Avoid buying bottle water. Pack lunches in reusable plastic containers e.g lunch boxes.

I have learnt so much like the affects of littering e.g if you litter it will kill fish which would mess up the food chain. I've also learnt that we don't always cause extinction like, climate change it bleachers coral which a bit like habitat loss. This inquiry connects to the central idea because all of these things like littering and habitat loss has affects on the food chain and the reef's health. This also connects to sharing the planet because if if we don't share our facilities Ike water and food and have a balance we are not sharing the planet and there will be affects like extinction.

I hope you enjoyed thank you.