Question

A researcher is excavating a fossil bed from a Devonian reef, now fossilized in Pennsylvania. She encounters many species that are new to science.

c) Research reefs. Give some ideas about why reef communities, in times during the history of the Earth when they existed, have such high diversity? What happened to the Devonian reefs?

d) Research and describe threats to contemporary coral reef systems. List, and describe, the major threats to these systems resulting from climate change, human disturbance, ocean acidification, and other factors.