Abiotic Features
Temperature and sunlight are two abiotic factors found in nearly every ecosystem, but since the Great Barrier Reef is an aquatic ecosystem, it has some additional abiotic components, including buoyancy, viscosity, light penetration, salts, gases and water density.
Sunlight
The Great Barrier Reef has mostly shallow waters so that it is easier for light to penetrate the water to reach organisms that need it most. Most life needs rich sunlight in order to survive in the reef, so you can find more living organisms in this area, which is known as the "photic zone". This zone is where most producers, like algae, are found due to their need for sunlight to produce glucose.
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Temperature
It is vital that the temperature of the Great Barrier Reef is maintained at a safe level, otherwise there will be dire consequences, as we are already seeing with excess human pollution. Green house gas being released into the atmosphere is being trapped in the troposphere, meaning there are excessive amounts of heat being culminated there.
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Rainfall
Heavy tropical rainfall can cause flooding in rivers and wash down chemicals eg. fertiliser, into the sea. The average amount of rainfall in Tropical North Queensland is 2010mm, which adds up to an average of 168mm per month.
Coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef
