Download or read book Contemporary Reefs written by B.V. Preobrazhensky and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1993-06-01 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of coral reefs is of great theoretical and practical importance in biology, geology, ecology, and for understanding the history of ocean basins and seacoasts. As a biological formation, the reef represents one of the rare natural marine ecosystem models with the highest biological productivity. Contemporary reef systems exert an extremely important influence on the overall biological control of the World Ocean. Coral reefs have been recognized as one of the richest natural ecosystems and could be considered a prototype of a highly productive marine economy.