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Koraller och dinoflagellater — ett marint partnerskap

Corals and zooxanthellae — a marine partnership

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Author

Summary, in English

Most reef-building corals live in partnership with so-called zooxanthellae in a mutually dependent way. Zooxanthellae are unicellular algae (dinoflagellates) inside the coral polyps, and by their photosynthesis they contribute to the sustenance of the coral.

Corals already existed during the Cambrian period, more than 500 million years ago, bu these were very different from today's reef-building species. The scleractinians or stony star corals, the main structural component in modern reefs, did not appear until after the great end-Permian extinction 261 million years ago. The dinoflagellate genus Symbiodinium, which forms the symbiosis with the corals, also stems from this time.

The coral reefs of the world, the marine ecosystems with the highest biological diversity, are now endangered due to coastal "development", oil spills and other local pollution, acidification due to atmospheric carbon dioxide increase, and climate change.

Publishing year

2006

Language

Swedish

Pages

263-270

Publication/Series

Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift

Volume

100

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Svenska Botaniska Föreningen, Svenska Botaniska Föreningen

Topic

  • Biological Sciences

Status

Published

Project

  • Popular science

Research group

  • Photobiology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0039-646X