How do sea level changes affect coral reefs?

Question

How do sea level changes affect coral reefs?

Answer 1

it depends on what sort of sea level changes we're talking about obviously tidal changes don't have a great effect on coral reefs and so on however if you're on the global warming line of things then increased water can decrease the light and frequencies of light that can reach the reefs and things in them and make conditions different and allow for changes to occur. on the same note this would probably be associated with a temperature increase which would have greater ramifications as many organisms are temperatrue dependent...

Answer 2

Interestingly we have recently seen shallow reefs off Kepple killed by sea-level change, but not what you might expect.
An extra low tide exposed the reef which was then hit by a heavy rain storm. The fresh water moved in and out with the tide but remained long enough to kill the corals.
The rate of sea level change is a few inches per century, the tidal change is often up to ten feet ( that's 3 meters) and happens twice a day in most places. Coral reefs grow on top of themselves and so can easily keep up with rising sea levels. The warming effect is something else though. It may increase coral bleaching. Then again it may not.

Answer 3

Corals are very sensitive to changes in their environment. Changes in water temperature, salinity, chemical composition, pH, and many other factors can all cause corals to suffer.

In the case of sea level changes, deeper water does not allow as much sunlight to reach the reefs on the bottom. This small change in light intensity can also affect corals, many of which rely on symbiotic photosynthesising algae as their main food source. As the light levels drop in the deeper water, their symbiotic algae cannot produce enough food to supply both themselves and the coral, so the coral gets less food. The coral in turn is then less able to catch enough nutrients from other sources (phosphates, nitrates and proteins) to keep the algae properly fed. As a result, the coral and the symbiotic algae can no longer sustain each other and they both die.

Answer 4

Coral needs shallow water. If the water gets deeper, it would kill the coral. On the other hand more coral would start growing in the new shallow areas, areas that were formerly dry land.

Answer 5

This is a challenging question, and one that has been the source of confusion for me for a long time.

Answer 6

so glad that I found this question already answered! its like you read my thoughts!