Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies

Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor yet support roughly a quarter of all marine species, making their stability one of the most consequential questions in environmental science. Researchers study how rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification disrupt the relationship between corals and their symbiotic dinoflagellates — the microscopic algae whose expulsion causes the whitening event known as bleaching — and how disease, nutrient pollution, and habitat fragmentation compound those stresses. A central open question is what determines whether a reef recovers after disturbance or shifts permanently to a degraded state, which draws attention to the roles of population connectivity, the coral microbiome, and the protective value of marine reserves. Understanding these dynamics is pressing because projections suggest that most reefs will experience severe bleaching conditions annually within decades if current warming trajectories continue.

Works

104,944

Total citations

2,014,555

Keywords

Coral ReefsClimate ChangeMarine EcosystemsOcean AcidificationBleachingMarine Reserves