Temperaturne promjene i koraljni grebeni

undergraduate thesis

• Title (english): Temperature change and coral reefs
• Author: Dino Babić
• Mentor: Petar Kružić (mentor)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Science; (Department of Biology); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2012, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Biology

Abstract

Koraljni grebeni jedni su od biološki najraznolikijih ekosustava na planeti Zemlji. Osim njihove velike ekološke važnosti, oni su i od znatnog ekonomskog značenja za ljudsko društvo. U današnje vrijeme mnogo se piše i govori o ugroženosti ovih morskih ekosustava zbog globalnog zagrijavanja odnosno spominje se izbjeljivanje koraljnih grebena. Cilj ovog rada je upoznavanje s problematikom izbjeljivanja koraljnih grebena. Globalne klimatske promjene vode sve višim temperaturama mora koje su glavni uzrok sve češćih i intenzivnijih događaja masovnog izbjeljivanja. Tijekom ovakvih događaja, koralji izbacuju simbiontske alge roda Symbiodinium (zooksantele) iz svojih tkiva te dolazi do prekida simbioze. Za vrijeme događaja intenzivnog izbjeljivanja, u pravilu dolazi do visokog mortaliteta koralja. Osim na koralje i zooksantele, izbjeljivanje utječe i na brojne druge organizme koraljnih grebena. Predviđaju se sve češći i intenzivniji događaji izbjeljivanja u narednim desetljećima. Sasvim je jasno da će izbjeljivanje biti ozbiljna prijetnja opstanku koralja u sljedećih 30-50 godina, čak i prema najoptimističnijim klimatskim scenarijima. Koralji mogu odgovoriti na povišene temperature kroz adaptaciju i aklimatizaciju. Međutim, ključno je pitanje da li se mogu adaptirati ili aklimatizirati dovoljno brzo da bi mogli držati korak s globalnim zagrijavanjem.

Abstract (english)

Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the Earth. Besides their great ecological importance, they are also of considerable importance for human societies. In recent time, a lot has been written and told about threats for these marine ecosystems, especially about coral reef bleaching. The aim of this work is presentation of coral reef bleaching issues. Global climate change leads to increasing temperatures that are the main cause of more frequent and more severe mass coral bleaching events. During these events, corals eject algal symbionts of genus Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae) from their tissues and this leads to the breakdown of symbiosis. Corals typically experience high mortality during severe coral bleaching events. Besides corals and zooxanthellae, bleaching also affects a lot of other organisms that live on coral reefs. More frequent and more intense coral reef bleaching events are predicted in the coming decades. It is purely clear that coral bleaching will be a severe threat to continued coral survival for the next 30-50 years even under the most optimistic climate scenarios. Corals can respond to higher temperatures through adaption and acclimation. However, the critical question is whether corals can respond to higher temperature quickly enough to keep up with global warming.

• Keywords: koraljni grebeni; temperaturne promjene
• Keywords (english): coral reefs; temperature change
• Language: croatian
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:217:699725
• Study programme: Title: Environmental Sciences; Study programme type: university; Study level: undergraduate; Academic / professional title: sveučilišni/a prvostupnik/prvostupnica (baccalaureus/baccalaurea) struke znanosti o okolišu (sveučilišni/a prvostupnik/prvostupnica (baccalaureus/baccalaurea) struke znanosti o okolišu)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2018-04-12 09:21:06