Coastal areas provide valuable ecosystem services. Coasts support activities like fisheries, tourism, and transportation. Coral reefs and mangroves stabilize shorelines and protect against flooding. However, human activities like coastal development, pollution, and climate change threaten these ecosystems. Countries gain profit from coasts through tourism, ports, and natural resources. Coastal conservation and sustainable use can help protect valuable coastlines.

1. Chapter 1: Coasts
Chong Boon Secondary School
Pure Geography
Physical Geography
Part 4 :
Week 4

2. Mini Test 1
• Wave Structure
– Height, length, frequency, crest, trough
• Factors that affect wave strength
• Coastal Erosional processes
• Erosional landforms
• Sediment transportation process

3. Lesson 7

4. Key thinking questions
• How valuable are our coastlines to
you?
• How valuable are coastlines to a
country?
• What are some ways a country can
gain profit from coasts?

5. Gateway 2 – Why are coastal areas valuable?
1. What are the four key ecosystem
services obtainable from coasts?
2. How do coastal environments support
human activities?
3. What is a coral reef ecosystem?
4. What is a mangrove ecosystem?

6. Ecosystem services from the coAST
• Coastal ecosystem can provide humans
with a wide range of services
1. Provisioning services
2. Regulating services
3. Cultural services
4. Supporting services

7. Ecosystem services from the coAST
Provisioning services
• Providing of resources and
products
• Fish and other seafood: caught
directly from the sea and provides
main dietary protein for more than
one billion people
• Water: bays can be deepened to
build harbours

8. Ecosystem services from the coAST
Provisioning services (cont…)
• Water: wave and tidal energy can be
harnessed to generate electricity
• Building materials:
– wood from mangrove trees used as
building material
– corals crushed to manufacture
cement
– shells and corals used to make
ornaments

9. Ecosystem services from the coAST
Regulating services
• The coastal ecosystem can
help to protect the coasts from
hazards
• Shoreline stabilization: coral
reefs and mangrove swamps
help to reduce wave energy
and impact of wave erosion

10. Ecosystem services from the coAST
Regulating services (cont…)
• Flood prevention:
– Wide beaches help to disperse water
– Sand dunes and berms help to
prevent water from advancing inland
– Mangroves and lagoons help to
contain large amounts of water

11. Ecosystem services from the coAST
Cultural services
• Refers to non-material or intangible
benefits
• Recreational benefits: water activities
• Aesthetic benefits
• Spiritual benefits: Tanah Lot (Bali),
various Mazu temples in Chinese-
dominated regions

12. Ecosystem services from the coAST
Supporting services
• Where coastal ecosystems support the
services by sustaining a wide range of
habitats
• Eg mangrove and beach habitats
• Provide breeding and nesting grounds,
protection from predators and provision
of food supply

13. HUMAN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE COAST
Fishery and aquaculture
• Fishery: an area where fishes are bred
• Aquaculture: human activity of fish
farming in fisheries
• Eg Ca Mau, Vietnam
• Southern part of Vietnam
• 60,000 hectares of mangroves cleared
for building material, charcoal, etc

14. HUMAN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE COAST
Fishery and aquaculture (cont…)
• Shrimp production moved into these
cleared areas
• Shrimp breeding ponds constructed from
mud and concrete
• Record high production of US$800
million in 2010

15. HUMAN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE COAST
Fishery and aquaculture (cont…)
• However there are negative
environmental effects from clearing of
mangroves
• Move towards organic shrimp farming
that does not require clearing of
mangrove swamps

16. HUMAN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE COAST
Housing and transportation
• Stilt houses can be built to allow people
to live directly on the sea
• Movement and transport can be through
boats
• Eg Kukup, Malaysia
• Located in Peninsula Malaysia, 25km
west of Singapore

17. HUMAN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE COAST
Housing and transportation (cont…)
• About 180 stilt houses with floating fish
farms in Air Masin
• Walkways connect the houses and allow
people to move within the community
• Boats are also employed for people to
move around and carry out daily
activities

18. HUMAN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE COAST
Housing and transportation (cont…)
• Schedules ferry services to Kukup Island
• Currently an attractive tourist destination
for seafood and sightseeing
• Main income from tourism
• Also through sale of marine products
such as dried fish and prawns

19. HUMAN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE COAST
Tourism and recreation
• Eg Sentosa, Singapore
• Located 500m south from main island of
Singapore
• Many developments capitalise on
proximity to the coast
• ONEo15 Marina Club: harbour and
wharves provide maintenance services
for boats and yachts

20. HUMAN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE COAST
Tourism and recreation (cont…)
• Resorts World Sentosa: waterfront
hotels, museum and marine life park
• Other attractions include a chain of
artificial beaches on the southern coast
and exclusive residential area on the
west end
• 19 million visitors in 2011 (600%
increase from 2003)

21. Pitstop 7
• For discussion in class:
–Qn 3
• For homework:
–Qn 4, 5 & 6

22. CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM – WHAT?
• Living structures found slightly below the
sea level on the seabed
• Polyps – animals that secrete calcium
carbonate to protect themselves
• Corals – the limestone skeleton of polyps
• Symbiosis – mutually beneficial
relationship between the polyps and
microscopic algae

23. CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM – WHAT?
• Polyps – supply algae with nutrients and
carbon dioxide
• Algae – provide polyps with sugars and
oxygen
• The presence of algae also give corals
their distinctive colours
• When polyps die, their limestone
skeleton is left behind

24. CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM – WHere?
Refer to fig. 1.54 on pg. 42
• Found mainly between 23.5o north and
south of the equator
• Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn
• Pacific Ocean: South East Asia (about
70,000km2, North of Australia (Great
Barrier Reef)
• Indian Ocean: Maldives, Madagascar
• Atlantic Ocean: Caribbean islands

25. CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM – Conditions
• High sea surface temperatures, 17 –
18oC
• Strong wave action to bring in food &
oxygen, and to wash away
sedimentation
• Average salinity
• Clear water, low level of turbidity
Why are these conditions necessary?

26. CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM – value
• Habitat: breeding grounds for fishes,
shelter from predators, provide food for
large fishes
• Coastal protection: help to reduce wave
energy and impact of coastal erosion
• Recreation: coral reefs as prime diving
sites for tourism, build coastal resorts
• Resource: coral fragments can be made
into ornaments and jewellery

27. CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM – pressures
• Coral reefs around the world face
constant pressure from human activities
and natural processes
• In SE Asia, about 95% of the reefs’
existence are under threat
• Pressures come mainly from coastal
developments, pollution and climate
change caused by human activities

28. CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM – pressures
GROUP PRESENTATION
Topic: Pressures that threaten the
existence of coral reefs/mangroves
• Explanation of the “pressure”
• Examples of places where it is
happening
• Suggestions on solutions
• Each group will be assigned the topic
and type of pressure