There were three points possible:
1 for choosing a coral that typifies the paradox
1 for knowing what the paradox is
1 for applying the chosen coral to the paradox
The ingenious paradox is that coral reefs are biologically fragile but geologically robust. In other words, they endure or geological time frames despite the fact that corals are sensitive to environmental perturbations and frequently die over short time scales (even though they may be very long-lived in some cases).
There are many corals that would apply - Acropora is a great example of a biologically fragile coral. Something like Porites, which forms long-lived colonies spanning hundreds of years and tolerating partial mortality would not be a good choice.
1 for choosing a coral that typifies the paradox
1 for knowing what the paradox is
1 for applying the chosen coral to the paradox
The ingenious paradox is that coral reefs are biologically fragile but geologically robust. In other words, they endure or geological time frames despite the fact that corals are sensitive to environmental perturbations and frequently die over short time scales (even though they may be very long-lived in some cases).
There are many corals that would apply - Acropora is a great example of a biologically fragile coral. Something like Porites, which forms long-lived colonies spanning hundreds of years and tolerating partial mortality would not be a good choice.
