Coral Bleaching: Potential Mechanisms and Observed Adaptations :: Sea Coral Corals Ecosystem Papers

Coral Bleaching: Potential Mechanisms and Observed Adaptations Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse marine ecosystems. Driving this diversity are cnidarian corals which are obligate mutualistic symbioses between coral animals and dinoflagellate algae of the genus symbiodinium. These algae are commonly called zooxanthellae. This symbiosis between heterotrophic hosts and photosynthetic symbionts allows coral to thrive in nutrient poor seas and deposit calcium carbonate to build reefs (Toller et al. 2001, 348). Coral bleaching occurs when there is a loss of zooxanthellae from their coral host. This is accompanied by loss of a coral's normal color that may or may not be detectable to the human eye. Bleaching can lead to coral death when prolonged, although links between bleaching and subsequent coral recovery or death are not well known. Causes of bleaching have been observed to include salinity, exposure to air, and sedimentation. The primary reasons cited to cause most instances of coral bleaching are increased sea temperatures and solar radiation. These two factors have been observed to cause the most damage in combination (Fitt et al. 2001, 51). The two types of bleaching that result from organism damage or disturbance are algal-stress bleaching and animal-stress bleaching. Algal-stress bleaching is characterized by expulsion of individual zooxanthellae from a host cell. Animal-stress bleaching is characterized by host cell detachment, which is expulsion of zooxanthellae from the coral animal along with the host cell they occupy. Radiation and temperature induced animal-stress bleaching and host cell detachment have not been observed in the field at current sea temperatures. This type of bleaching has only been observed under laboratory conditions (Fitt et al. 2001, 55). A third type of bleaching, physiological bleaching, occurs in an unstressed coral-zooxanthellae holobiont as a method of shedding excess zooxanthellae from host cells. Zooxanthellae density within host cells varies seasonally in this manner. Maximum zooxanthellae density is observed to occur during the coolest season with the lowest solar radiation. The minimum density is observed to occur at the end of the warmest season with the highest solar radiation (Fitt et al. 2001, 54). The temperature at which coral bleaching occurs has been observed to be from 30 to 34 degrees Celsius (Ralph et al. 2001, 163). Solar radiation exacerbates bleaching in this temperature range and can also cause bleaching at ‘normal’ temperatures when at sufficient intensity.

A Career in Social Work

The career that I want to pursue is social work. I enjoy talking to people, helping them with their problems, and try to make their bad days better; I already have some trained skills, which I have learned in places that I did some volunteer work in the past. I also worked babysitting children of different ages and tutored others in some basic subjects. My experience of having my own small business plus all the volunteer work in the places I mentioned above, gave me a head start by assisting individuals on a regular basis. Becoming social service worker has many responsibilities.Some of the responsibilities are getting information to provide quality services in an efficient and effective manner to people with complex needs. To be a good social service worker requires a solid foundation of training, values, knowledge, theory and skills. I was born and raised in a big city and lived n the same street with my family, until the age of twenty. My parents have been together for many years and I have 5 siblings. Growing up in the 1970's, having an abusive biological father was very difficult for my mother, my siblings and me.I felt that we were a comfortable family with all the things necessary to be happy. I was unaware that my biological father was abusive towards my mother, so was one of my brothers toward his wife. When I learned it, I was a teenager and it led for my siblings and I lean toward my grandmother and stepfather. Our families were divided by religion and the abuse. My stepfather was our pillar of support; he always encouraged all of us to get an education. I had to learn rapidly to adjust to different situations and saw that folks Just were not all bad, ecause they had faced problems in their lives.This permitted me to grow and absorb in ways other children may have never imagined, and I be certain of that because of my family, it has added a great deal of my individual strength and approval of others. I have also learned many useful skills and experie nces throughout my adult life. Having a difficult time as a child myself and then being married to an abusive husband for 15 years, has given me the power and aspiration to become a Social Service Worker. It will be fulfilling a lasting vision to help persons n need no matter the emergency they may be pursuing to remedy.When I was younger I always talked about being a teacher or a social worker. As I got older and started to build my life it changed. I went from being a simple receptionist to being an office clerk, where I have to not only answer phones, but learn many other skills at administrating an office. Although I went to school for to Office administration and didn't finished it, I always have the desire to serve and help others. With the determination and drive instilled in me there is no other ending but achievement and success.The one real mistake I believe we can make in life is to not learn from the errors and challenges that come our way. In fact, it is in these mistak es and trials where I have learned the most and grow into a healthier and stronger person. I still feel in my soul that my career path is in social work and now that I know what career path I will take it is up to me to make it happen. I believe that my life experiences and skills demonstrate why the field Social Service Work is best suitable for me as an education and career.Considering my strengths, I am cooperative, g natured, generous, nelptul, numble and modest and I trust others. As a professional, I am non-judgmental, not hold responsible the client for their predicaments. Even if someone hurts my feelings, I am quick to forgive and forget. These qualities are essential for me, because I am working and will work with a variety of people, healthcare professionals, clients, and others that may exhibit inflexible and difficult personalities that may be challenging to work with. Finding the right treatment or service for each client based on their needs requires a creative person .I am also particular, hard-working, organized, and, and take my responsibilities seriously. These qualities are appropriate for when I am working individually or with a team. My extroverted personality also suits my career objective as a social service worker as interaction with others is a significant portion of this kind of work. Regarding communication skills, I am talkative, assertive, sociable and active. One of my limitations is that, although I speak two languages fluently, my strong accent is not acceptable to some when it comes to interact with clients.I am vercoming this personal limitation by taking a pronunciation course over the summer as a starting point. Some of my personal talents include being interested and passionate in a selfless and courteous manner. I am capable to sustain a considerate and gentle manner, even in hectic circumstances. I have a high score for intellect, which shows that I strive to acquire and preserve my existing knowledge, which is crucial fo r a worthy and passionate social service worker. I am honestly concerned with other individuals and try to treat everyone with consideration and compassion.I have always had the desire to study and strive in my area of interest. When I had an opportunity in 2005 to go back to school, I was fully committed to excel in my studies. My goal is not Just to get good grades, but also to fully understand the concepts in my studies and be able to analyze them. There are many social issues in our society that I would like to personally contribute to for the improvement of society. Through learning, I was able to understand some of my own experiences from the past, and instead of taking them as a terrible lessons, I accepted them as a hallenging Journey.One of my academic goals is to keep up my above average grades. I put in enormous strength and hard effort into my studies. Upon arriving at this city, I was determined that I would spend my next two years in pursuit of new ideas and experience s. I come from a country with a rich social, cultural and ethnic variety; this helps me appreciate cultural sensitivity better as well as the clients' traditional beliefs, when working with the particular client populations. Beside English, I speak French and Spanish; knowledge of two extra languages, will become n extra asset as a social service worker.The population that I want to work the most is the elderly. Elderly clients are friendly and willingly wait for a social service worker to visit them. Most of them treat the worker as an acquaintance. Proficient detachment is required, so that I will not picture the client as a family, and to keep in mind that the objective is to help them improve their ability to do well without a lot of support. I am arranging my other areas of life around my studies, so I can entirely commit and keep up with decent grades. Success is all can see in my future.

In Pursuit of the Perfect Salad... essays

In Pursuit of the Perfect Salad... essays Forrest Gump is remembered for comparing life to a box of chocolates; so many to choose from, all equally delicious. Me, I like to think of life as a bowl of salad, offering lots of choices for toppings. My parents supplied me with the base of values and morals that I am thankful for and will use throughout my life. My mom supports me in everything I do, from baking brownies every meet for my swim team to giving me the occasional pep talk. My dad is a model of dedication, integrity, and ambition as he worked hard to create a business that would offer financial security for our family. Both my mom and dad have helped me explore my athletic and creative interests by exposing me to the world of art, of dance, and of swim. I consider myself a well-rounded person due to my parents love and understanding. Throughout my freshman and sophomore year, I found myself having difficulty balancing all the activities on my plate (no pun intended). My academics were suffering and I soon found myself facing an extremely challenging situation. I had lost all motivation to participate in events that I used to really enjoy and for academics that had once come easy to me in the past. Unfortunately, I ended my freshman year being academically ineligible to compete on the swim team. My ability to control my life was taken away from me and it was a very trying time. At that point, I made the decision to really look at my life. I started to think about my future and where I wanted to be when I was an adult. I thought about education considering my love for working with children and one of my main goals in life is to have children. As for my immediate future, I realized that I had to make the right choices so that I could swim again. I reached out to my teachers, counselors, and parents to help me get my life back together. I chose to work hard and focus so that my life dreams and goals could have the possibility of being fulfilled. ...