All ecosystems are important, but obviously the more species rich ones
are even more important.
And coral reef ecosystem is the second species
richest in the world, after tropical rainforests.
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The main importance of coral reefs is that they support so many
species, which means that without them a lot of species would go
extinct.
But there are other good reasons, and the following one easily rivals
the one above: corals recycle and remove carbon dioxide - the gas that
adds to global warming.
Other reasons for the importance of the coral reef are that they
protect the land from tropical cyclones (hurricanes) and tsunamis; that
they bring in tourist dollars, that they provide us with food in form
of fish and other seafood; and that with their species richness (just
like the tropical rainforests) they are very likely to provide us with
some very important (cancer) medicies in the future.
Note:
This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.
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