【姓名】陈木子
【导师】王玉印、袁文魁
【导图解说】
这幅导图是我对中学高段自然地理课本“coasts”中Gateway 2的预习，其主题（即第一分支）是Why are coastal areas valuable? ，中心图是一个Coastal Area的布局图（姑且这么叫吧，当然是虚构的），与上一张不同。上一张是剖面图，这一张是俯视图。
Main Branch 1: Topic. The topic of this gateway is “Why are coastal areas valuable”.
Main Branch 2: Usage. Coasts have been used by people in various ways since long long ago. Human activities in coastal areas include fisheries and aquaculture, housing and transportation, tourism and recreation, etc. The worldwide demand for fish has grown a lot and fisheries are mostly located in coastal areas, hence one of the main usage of coastal areas is fisheries and aquaculture. In 2008, the top 3 aquaculture producers of fish, crustaceans and molluscs are China, India and Vietnam, with a quality of 32,735,944 tonnes, 3,478,690 tonnes and 2,461,700 tonnes respectively. Additionally, coastal areas are used for housing and transportation. Many people live near the coast, thus they use coastal areas for housing e.g. building stilt houses as residents and use walkways & boats for transportation. Coastal areas are also useful in tourism, such as recreation, honeypot tourism and MICE(Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Events).
Main Branch 3: Coral reef ecosystems. Coral reefs are built by polyps that secrete deposits of calcium carbonate. They are distributed mainly between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Coral reefs are fragile, hence they are only located at certain places. They are affected by temperature, sunlight, salinity and oxygen content of water. Coral reefs are valuable, as they breed marine creatures and protect the adjacent lands. Coral reefs are also under pressures, including the overcollection of corals, fishing methods, tourism, coastal development and climate change.
Main Branch 4: Mangrove ecosystems. Mangrove species are salt-tolerant tropical or subtropical plants which grow in conditions that most plants are unable to.They are distributed mainly between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. They adapt their characteristics in in various ways e.g. their roots, fruits and ways to secrete excess salt to adapt to the saline environment. Mangroves are valuable as they play a crucial role in a range of natural processes and also serve as a valuable resource for human. They are also under pressures due to human’s use of resources from mangrove ecosystems.
