I really need help answering these questions for the article. I attached my grap
ID: 140304 • Letter: I
Question
I really need help answering these questions for the article. I attached my graph for the data. But, I need help with the remaining questions.
DATA et Coral bleaching and climate change Featured scientist: Carly Kenkel from The University of Texas at Austin Research Background: Corals are animals that build coral reefs. Coral reefs are home to many species of animals -fish, sharks, sea turtles, and anemones all use corals for habitat! Corals are white, but they look brown and green because certain types of algae live inside them. Algae, like plants, use the sun's energy to make food. The algae that live inside the corals' cells are tiny and produce more sugars than they themselves need. The extra sugars become food for the corals. At the same time, the corals provide the algae a safe home. The algae and corals coexist in a relationship where each partner benefits the other, called a mutualism: these species do better together than they would alone. When the water gets too warm, the algae can no longer live inside corals, so they leave The corals then turn from green to white, called coral bleaching. Climate change has been causing the Earth's air and oceans to get warmer. With warmer oceans, coral bleaching is becoming more widespread. If the water stays too warm, bleached corals will die without their algae mutualists. Carly is a scientist who wants to study coral bleaching so she can help protect corals and coral reefs. One day while out on the reef, Carly observed an interesting pattern. Corals on one part of a reef were bleaching while corals on another part of the reef stayed healthy. She wondered, why some corals and their algae can still work together when the water is warm, while others cannot?Explanation / Answer
1) Corals from offshore reef undergoes less bleaching in warm water when compared to corals from inshore reef.
2) Out of 15 corals from offshore reefs, 5 underwent bleaching. But, 10 out of 15 corals from inshore reefs underwent bleaching. These results were used to make this particular scientific claim.
3) Mutualistic relationship between corals and algae gets affected when water gets warm. Algae leaves the corals which will lead to coral bleaching.
4) The data obtained in the experiment supported the hypothesis. Among offshore reefs, only 33.3% underwent bleaching while among inshore reefs, 66.7% underwent bleaching.
5) Further research should be done to identify the factors present in offshore coral reefs that allowed algae to continue in their mutualistic relationship.