Friday 21 September 2007

Coral Reef and Us

Marine Short Article, DLSU


Coral Reefs and Us

Coral reefs are marine organism, which produce calcium carbonate & colony living at the bottom of the sea. So many marine biota’s associated with it. They are sponge, sea anemone, mollusk, worm, sea urchins, crabs, lobsters, crustacean and coral fishes.
What are corals good for? Coral reefs provide fish, life-saving drugs, building materials, shore protection and foreign exchange from tourism (such as in Bunaken island). Reefs support high biodiversity and then good level of sustainability and natural replenishment.
Too bad, now some reefs are being destroyed by destructive fishing, pollutions, sediment and over-exploitation. Most of these impacts are long lasting. So my friends, we have to do something. What we can do are participate in volunteer reef protection programs, do not take apart of destructive activities in coral reef are, and as a student, we have responsibility and can create awareness through public education or conduct research to provide answer relevant to management.
So, you can help play an important role! Do it now......because We borrow our good living from our children now, so take care of it!!

Mangrove and Us

Marine Corner
(Lasallian Short Article, De La Salle University)


Mangrove & Us

What is mangrove? Mangrove is large tropical evergreen tree, genus Rhizophora, Avicennia, Bruguiera, that grows on muddy tidal flats and along protected ocean shorelines.These curious plants are salt tolerant and prosper where most other plants cannot live. They cover about 75 percent of tropical and subtropical shorelines worldwide. Kinds of mangrove are the red mangrove is usually closest to the water and is readily identified by its reddish prop roots, the black mangrove, which may be mingled with the red or a little behind it, has cable like roots and numerous breathing tubes (pneumatophores) that are exposed at low tide and the white mangrove with its grey-white trunk and flattened oval leaves is still higher on the slope. All three make use of breathing tubes or pores to draw oxygen into the root system, where being little oxygen available in the mucky soils where mangroves often grow.

What is mangrove function? The basic source of food here is litter fall, mostly leaves that the mangroves shed and replace all year long, plus bark, twigs, root material, guano from birds roosting in the trees, and organic matter of all kinds including dead animals and loose sea grass trapped in the maze of roots. All decompose to begin the food chain. Again, the agents are bacteria and fungi that produce edible detritus and are themselves eaten by marine animals often too small to see. They in turn are eaten by larger animals. And finally, larger predators, including humans, come along to harvest the bounty. For example, amphipods, fiddler crabs, killifish and minnows live in mangroves and eat detritus. They can withstand wide variations in temperature and salinity, and they are found almost everywhere. Another example, lobster larvae floating in the plankton, migrate to the roots of red mangroves. They consume both plant and animal material. The sea trout’s (from the croaker family) tolerate higher turbidity and feed on fish in mangroves and sea grass beds. As many marine animals migrate from one habitat to another, the mangrove forests, the sea grass beds and the coral reefs are interrelated and the health of one affects the others. Why we have to look for? Because this is prime habitats to the marine environment and influence for human.
By : Stella Kaunang

Tuesday 18 September 2007

Ndak ada Judul

Dear diary,

Uh..happy deh hari ini............ tapi ndak ingin di bilang, soalnya rasanya mengurangi 'rasa' happy itu deh. Disimpan dulu ya..........

Monday 17 September 2007

Perpisahan dengan Jean & Claire

Dear Diary,
Hari ini ada rasa yang lain, merasa akan kehilangan sahabat yang baik.
2 orang dosen asing dari Perancis, suami istri datang ke Indonesia dengan Misi Pendidikan berkarya di Unika De La Salle Manado sebagai sukarelawan awam Katolik.

2 tahun sudah.... dan selama itu kami berteman.
Untuk itu saya terima kasih atas persahabatan dan kerelaan kalian mengabdi di De La Salle Manado.

Di kesempatan berikut, kita akan bertemu lagi.

Gracias......