I need it tomorrow. It’s Coral Reefs 2 – Biotic Factors from gizmos. Thank you so much. Extend your thinking: Click Return to original settings, face multiple environmental and biological threats, and restart. Many Caribbean reefs. You design your own experiment to see how combination of factors shift or alter the reef. Use the Gizmo to also design an experiment to see how a disturbance affects the reef. You will see how quickly a reef recovers from a disturbance. In the space below, describe your question, experimental design, experimental results, conclusions. Continue on additional pages if necessary. Question and hypothesis: Experimental design: Results: Conclusions:
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Question and Hypothesis:
Question: How do a combination of environmental and biological factors influence the health and recovery of a coral reef after a disturbance, such as a bleaching event or a predator invasion?
Hypothesis: If multiple environmental and biological stressors, such as increased temperature, decreased water quality, and predation by species like the crown-of-thorns starfish, are present, then the coral reef will show slower recovery after a disturbance compared to a reef experiencing fewer stressors.
Experimental Design:
- Variables:
- Independent Variables: Temperature (increased), predator presence (e.g., crown-of-thorns starfish), water quality (pollution level).
- Dependent Variables: Coral health (measured by coral cover and biodiversity), recovery time (measured by time to reach 50% of original health).
- Control Variables: Reef type (Caribbean coral reefs), initial coral health, water depth.
- Setup:
- Create different reef scenarios using the Gizmo: One where only temperature is increased, one where predation is added, one with water pollution, and one with a combination of all three.
- Simulate a disturbance (e.g., temperature increase leading to bleaching or an influx of predators) and observe the reef’s recovery over time.
- Procedure:
- Set up initial conditions for coral reef health.
- Apply the disturbance (e.g., increase temperature, introduce predators, and pollute the water).
- Measure coral health at different time intervals (e.g., 1 day, 1 week, 1 month).
- Track the time it takes for the reef to recover based on the combination of factors.
Results:
Based on the Gizmo’s simulation, you should expect that reefs with multiple stressors (increased temperature, pollution, and predation) will show a slower recovery rate compared to reefs with only one or two factors. The reefs without any disturbances should recover faster and show more robust health over time.
Conclusions:
This experiment will show how multiple environmental and biological stressors, when combined, can greatly impair a coral reef’s ability to recover from disturbances. The hypothesis that reefs with more stressors will recover slower should be supported by the experimental data. Understanding these interactions is crucial for conservation efforts in protecting vulnerable coral reef ecosystems, especially as climate change and human activity increase stress on these vital ecosystems.
