Study on Coral Bleaching (2010) in Middle Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Coral reefs are the most diverse marine habitat, and support an estimated 0.5 million species globally (Splading et al. 2001). They are among the most sensitive of all ecosystems to temperature changes, exhibiting bleaching when stressed by higher than normial sea temperatures Qokiel et al. 1977). The dinoflagellets algae called Zooxanthellate lives in the endodermal cells of the Corals. The zooxanthellae provide the coral with large quantities of organic materials, especially high calorific value lipids and carbohydrates which are believed to provide most of the energy for maintenance, tissue and skeletal growth, and possibly reproduction (Veron, 1986; Brown and Ogden, 1993; Meehan and Ostrander, 1997).