Bioerosion is the breakdown and removal of hard substrates (like rocks, shells, or coral skeletons) by living organisms through physical or chemical means, a fundamental ecological process creating sediment and altering habitats, involving organisms from microorganisms (bacteria, algae) to macroinvertebrates (sponges, mollusks, echinoids) and fish, crucial in marine environments but also occurring on land, impacting reef growth and geological features.
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