Coral reef ecosystems have the highest gross primary productivity, the rate at which energy is produced by plants through photosynthesis, before the plant uses any of the energy itself, in the sea. However, the net productivity, the amount of energy which primary producers can pass on to the second trophic level, and potential fisheries yield are relatively low. The total amount of new organic matter produced by photosynthesis is called Primary Productivity. The low net productivity which is, the rate at which an ecosystem accumulates energy or biomass, excluding the energy it uses for the process of respiration, in coral reef ecosystems is because of their complexity and diversity. A high diversity of phyla leads to a more complete partitioning and consumption of resources. A major portion of the gross primary productivity,the incorporation of organic matter or biocontent by a grassland community over a given period of time, in the coral reef ecosystem is based on recycling of chemicals between algal symbionts and a variety of animal phyla.Coral reef communities are characterized by about six trophic levels and a disproportionate prevalence of predatory species, and much of the energy is lost in transfer among trophic levels rather than exported from the ecosystem.
The vulnerability of coral-reef species is partly because of their life-history adaptations to uncertainty in survival of recruits and juveniles in diverse communities where predation and competition are intense. With low rates of survival of recruits, multiple attempts at reproduction are favored through longevity and large size. These traits lead to low rates of population turnover and special vulnerability to overfishing.
Overfishing a coral reef can have ecosystem-level effects. Pelagic species might be managed on a species-by-species basis, but because of ecosystem-level effects resulting from coral-reef fisheries, the coral reef must be dealt with using an ecosystem approach. The maximum sustained yield for reef fisheries may not correspond with the level at which the species may be harvested without ecosystem overfishing.
Biome: A major ecological community of organisms adapted to a particular climatic or environmental condition on a large geographic area in which they occur.
The vulnerability of coral-reef species is partly because of their life-history adaptations to uncertainty in survival of recruits and juveniles in diverse communities where predation and competition are intense. With low rates of survival of recruits, multiple attempts at reproduction are favored through longevity and large size. These traits lead to low rates of population turnover and special vulnerability to overfishing.
Overfishing a coral reef can have ecosystem-level effects. Pelagic species might be managed on a species-by-species basis, but because of ecosystem-level effects resulting from coral-reef fisheries, the coral reef must be dealt with using an ecosystem approach. The maximum sustained yield for reef fisheries may not correspond with the level at which the species may be harvested without ecosystem overfishing.
Biome: A major ecological community of organisms adapted to a particular climatic or environmental condition on a large geographic area in which they occur.