Consider the following statements:
- Most of the world’s coral reefs are in tropical waters.
- More than one-third of the world’s coral reefs are located in the territories of Australia, Indonesia and Philippines.
- Coral reefs host far more number of animal phyla than those hosted by tropical rainforests.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Explanation
Statement 1 is correct
- The majority of reef-building corals are found within tropical and subtropical waters. Corals thrive in tropical waters (30°N to 30°S latitudes; temperature around 20°C) where diurnal and annual temperature ranges are very narrow. (Coral reefs are absent on the west coast of tropical continents because of Cold Ocean Currents.)
- The red dots on the map show the location of major tropical and subtropical stony coral reefs of the world.
Image Source: Noaa.gov
Statement 2 is correct
- More than one-third of the world’s coral reefs are located in territories of Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Over half of the world’s coral reefs are found within six countries: Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the Maldives (Coral Reef Alliance, 2024).
Statement 3 is correct
- Coral reefs are the most diverse communities on the planet. These tropical marine communities occupy less than 1% of the ocean floor, but are inhabited by at least 25% of all marine species.
- Scientists estimate that more than 25,000 described species from thirty-two of the world’s thirty-three animal phyla live in reef habitats four times the number of animal phyla found in tropical rain forests.
