To review:
Based on the functions of corals in the reef community, whether they are considered as foundation species, ecosystem engineering species or keystone species.
Introduction:
The keystone species play a very important role in order to regulate the species richness in a community. For example, as a wolf regulates the number of its prey species. The foundation species are those species that provide food and habitat to the other species, for example, plants and the coral reefs. The ecosystem engineering species include either of the two types of the species, keystone or foundation species.
Explanation of Solution
The corals acts as a backbone structure of the reef by depositing their calcium carbonate (CaCO3) skeletons in the reef. The reef provides shelter to other species of corals as well. Being very sensitive to the environment change, corals have gained a lot of attention from several environmentalists. The loss of reefs also leads to the loss of habitats for several important species.
Since the corals build the reefs to provide shelters to themselves and other species, they are considered as the ecosystem engineering and foundation species. The habitats provided by the corals allow the survival of other species as well.
Thus, it can be concluded that the corals are the ecosystem engineering and the foundation species as they are capable of providing the habitat to other species by depositing their calcium carbonate skeletons, and considered vital in building of reef.
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Chapter 56 Solutions
Life: The Science of Biology
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