Article Summaries

Mass coral bleaching has caused widespread reef loss, highlighting the need for a globally coordinated monitoring system. This review analyzes 60 years of bleaching data,...

Human well-being outcomes of large-scale marine protected areas

Human well-being outcomes of large-scale marine protected areas

Baker et al. 2025

This study reviews existing literature on LSMPAs to assess their impact on human well-being using the 4-C well-being framework, which categorizes well-being as it relates...

Examining variations in functional homogeneity in herbivorous coral reef fishes in Pacific Islands experiencing a range of human impacts

Examining variations in functional homogeneity in herbivorous coral reef fishes in Pacific Islands experiencing a range of human impacts

Nalley et al. 2024

Focus on conserving herbivore diversity, emphasizing the protection of specialized species to maintain functional diversity within the ecosystem. Continuously monitor and manage human stressors, including...

Diversification of refugia types needed to secure the future of coral reefs subject to climate change

Diversification of refugia types needed to secure the future of coral reefs subject to climate change

McClanahan et al. 2023

To create a more effective conservation strategy, the authors highlight the need for a better understanding of coral resistance and recovery dynamics at local scales,...

Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress against the 30 by 30 target

Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress against the 30 by 30 target

Pike et al. 2024

MPA planning should prioritize ecologically diverse and biogeographically representative areas, especially near human populations. Achieving the "30 by 30" target requires not only increasing MPA...

Emergent increase in coral thermal tolerance reduces mass bleaching under climate change

Emergent increase in coral thermal tolerance reduces mass bleaching under climate change

Lachs et al. 2023

Managers face significant challenges in combating SCTLD due to the limited understanding of its cause, transmission mechanisms, and effective treatments. This review synthesizes current knowledge...

Stony coral tissue loss disease: a review of emergence, impacts, etiology, diagnostics, and intervention

Stony coral tissue loss disease: a review of emergence, impacts, etiology, diagnostics, and intervention

Papke et al. 2024

Managers face significant challenges in combating SCTLD due to the limited understanding of its cause, transmission mechanisms, and effective treatments. This review synthesizes current knowledge...

Restoration as a meaningful aid to ecological recovery of coral reefs

Restoration as a meaningful aid to ecological recovery of coral reefs

Suggett et al. 2024

The authors highlight the difference between "ecological restoration" (hands-on recovery efforts) and "restoration ecology" (the science behind these efforts). They recommend integrating restoration into a...

Sea-weeding: manual removal of macroalgae facilitates rapid coral recovery

Sea-weeding: manual removal of macroalgae facilitates rapid coral recovery

Smith et al. 2023

This low-tech, high-impact method can be integrated into local reef management strategies and can be done using volunteer divers with minimal training.

Improving human well-being outcomes in marine protected areas through futures thinking

Improving human well-being outcomes in marine protected areas through futures thinking

Baker et al. 2023

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are vital tools for safeguarding ecological systems and are increasingly being established worldwide. However, MPAs can significantly impact human well-being, particularly...

Strengthening resilience potential assessments for coral reef management

Strengthening resilience potential assessments for coral reef management

Gudka et al. 2024

Coral reefs are increasingly threatened by various disturbances, making it essential for managers to identify which reefs are more resilient and capable of retaining their...

Scaling Indigenous-led natural resource management

Scaling Indigenous-led natural resource management

Jagadish et al. 2024

Fiji LMMA adoption graphic courtesy of Manini Bansal. Recent studies and the Global Biodiversity Framework underscore the vital role of management initiatives led by Indigenous Peoples...

Past disturbances and local conditions influence the recovery rates of coral reefs

Past disturbances and local conditions influence the recovery rates of coral reefs

Walker et al. 2024

With marine heatwaves increasing in frequency and intensity, it is necessary to understand coral recovery post-disturbance. This study examined coral cover recovery rates across 1,921...

New global area estimates for coral reefs from high-resolution mapping

New global area estimates for coral reefs from high-resolution mapping

Lyons et al. 2024

High-resolution spatial data on coral reef distribution and composition can help managers and researchers plan marine conservation efforts, better predict climate change impacts, and enhance...

Seabirds boost coral reef resilience

Seabirds boost coral reef resilience

Climate change poses a significant threat to coral reefs worldwide, necessitating efforts to identify and promote local conditions that enhance resilience in the short term....

Principles for climate resilience are prevalent in marine protected area management plans

Principles for climate resilience are prevalent in marine protected area management plans

Lopazanski et al. 2023

Climate change poses challenges for designing and managing marine protected areas (MPAs). The review examined 172 management plans covering 555 MPAs across 52 countries to...

Advancing social equity in and through marine conservation

Advancing social equity in and through marine conservation

Several challenges impede marine conservation efforts in promoting social equity, including historical Western-focused conservation models with a top-down approach and insufficient consideration of Indigenous and...

Effects of management objectives and rules on marine conservation outcomes

Effects of management objectives and rules on marine conservation outcomes

Area-based management for conserving biodiversity is becoming more common, especially to meet global targets like the 30 X 30 initiative. While Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)...

Coral reefs benefit from reduced land–sea impacts under ocean warming

Coral reefs benefit from reduced land–sea impacts under ocean warming

Local human activities and climate-driven marine heatwaves are significantly altering coral reef ecosystems. Managers aiming to increase reef resilience often face challenges in effectively integrating...

Navigating ecological transformation: Resist–accept–direct as a path to a new resource management paradigm

Navigating ecological transformation: Resist–accept–direct as a path to a new resource management paradigm

Schuurman et al. 2022

Historically, natural resource management has focused on preserving or restoring ecosystems to previous baseline conditions. However, intensifying anthropogenic impacts combined with climate change means that...

No apparent trade-offs associated with heat tolerance in a reef-building coral

No apparent trade-offs associated with heat tolerance in a reef-building coral

Marine heatwave stress has led to widespread coral bleaching and mortality events. The ability of reef-building corals to withstand this heat stress will be an...

Water quality thresholds for coastal contaminant impacts on corals: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Water quality thresholds for coastal contaminant impacts on corals: a systematic review and meta-analysis

To mitigate the impacts of pollutants on coral reef ecosystems, managers require data-driven water quality thresholds. This study conducted a comprehensive review and meta-analysis, assessing...

Identifying correlates of coral‐reef fish biomass on Florida's Coral Reef to assess potential management actions

Identifying correlates of coral‐reef fish biomass on Florida's Coral Reef to assess potential management actions

Coral reef ecosystems and reef fish populations worldwide are diminishing due to a combination of factors, including overfishing, climate change, deteriorating water quality, habitat destruction,...

Integrated watershed management solutions for healthy coastal ecosystems and people

Integrated watershed management solutions for healthy coastal ecosystems and people

Human activities in coastal regions, such as mining, farming, urbanization, and waste disposal, deteriorate water quality in nearby watersheds, negatively impacting downstream coastal ecosystems like...

Rapid ecosystem-scale consequences of acute deoxygenation on a Caribbean coral reef

Rapid ecosystem-scale consequences of acute deoxygenation on a Caribbean coral reef

This study revealed that an acute deoxygenation event on a Caribbean coral reef rapidly altered the benthic community composition and microbial assemblage present. The deoxygenation...

Transformation of coral communities subjected to an unprecedented heatwave is modulated by local disturbance

Transformation of coral communities subjected to an unprecedented heatwave is modulated by local disturbance

This study assessed the coral community composition, bleaching, and mortality across a gradient of anthropogenic disturbance levels before, during, and after a prolonged heatwave during...

A low-tech method for monitoring survival and growth of coral transplants at a boutique restoration site

A low-tech method for monitoring survival and growth of coral transplants at a boutique restoration site

Coral reef restoration projects are becoming a popular corporate environmental responsibility activity at hotel resorts. This paper presents a simple monitoring method that hotel staff...

Palau’s Warmest Reefs Harbor Thermally Tolerant Corals That Thrive Across Different Habitats

Palau’s Warmest Reefs Harbor Thermally Tolerant Corals That Thrive Across Different Habitats

Coral reefs are at risk due to coral bleaching caused by warming ocean temperatures and extreme heat waves, but certain coral populations exhibit tolerance to...

A Roadmap to Integrating Resilience into the Practice of Coral Reef Restoration

A Roadmap to Integrating Resilience into the Practice of Coral Reef Restoration

Integrating Resilience into Coral Reef Restoration

Biodiversity Needs Every Tool in the Box: Use OECMs

Biodiversity Needs Every Tool in the Box: Use OECMs

For context: “An ‘other effective area-based conservation measure’ is defined by the CBD as: A geographically defined area other than a Protected Area, which is governed and managed in ways...

Designing a Blueprint for Coral Reef Survival

Designing a Blueprint for Coral Reef Survival

The authors of this study convened coral reef experts to outline a set of principles that could be undertaken as a coordinated strategy to sustain...

Conservation Actions and Ecological Context: Optimizing Coral Reef Local Management in the Dominican Republic

Conservation Actions and Ecological Context: Optimizing Coral Reef Local Management in the Dominican Republic

This study analyzed coral reefs in the southeastern Dominican Republic area of Bayahibe from 2011-2016, where tourism activities have increased significantly in recent years. These...

Local Conditions Magnify Coral Loss After Marine Heatwaves

Local Conditions Magnify Coral Loss After Marine Heatwaves

In recent decades, marine heatwaves have caused widespread coral mortality, altering the structure of reef communities that people rely on for critical ecosystem services. Though...

Septic Systems Contribute to Nutrient Pollution and Harmful Algal Blooms in the St. Lucie Estuary, Southeast Florida, USA

Septic Systems Contribute to Nutrient Pollution and Harmful Algal Blooms in the St. Lucie Estuary, Southeast Florida, USA

This year-long study measured sucralose, nitrogen isotopes in macrophytes, aqueous nutrients, and C-44 measurements in groundwater systems vulnerable to septic leaking from canals and nearshore...

The Effect of Seawater Environmental Factors on the Corals of Wailingding Island in the Pearl River Estuary

The Effect of Seawater Environmental Factors on the Corals of Wailingding Island in the Pearl River Estuary

This study measured water and environmental characteristics to determine the conditions more suitable for corals providing managers in the area with a baseline and goal...

Is Untreated Sewage Impacting Coral Reefs of Caye Caulker, Belize?

Is Untreated Sewage Impacting Coral Reefs of Caye Caulker, Belize?

This is the first report of the impacts of sewage pollution on coral reefs in Belize, which were classified as poor by the Healthy Reefs...

Environmental Health in Southwestern Atlantic Coral Reefs: Geochemical, Water Quality and Ecological Indicators

Environmental Health in Southwestern Atlantic Coral Reefs: Geochemical, Water Quality and Ecological Indicators

This paper explores the correlations between water quality (measured concentrations of nutrients, metals, and organic compounds), Amphistegina gibbosa (a bioindicator species in the area), and...

A 30-Year Monitoring of Changes In Coral Community Structure Following Anthropogenic Disturbances in Tolo Harbour and Channel, Hong Kong

A 30-Year Monitoring of Changes In Coral Community Structure Following Anthropogenic Disturbances in Tolo Harbour and Channel, Hong Kong

This study focuses on Tolo Harbour in Hong Kong that experiences limited flushing and low salinity. Development since 1973 has led to increased sewage discharge...

Local Human Activities Limit Marine Protection Efficacy on Caribbean Coral Reefs

Local Human Activities Limit Marine Protection Efficacy on Caribbean Coral Reefs

This study explores the efficacy, or lack thereof, of no-take reserves to effectively reduce coral disease and loss, identifying land-based pollution, particularly nutrients, as a...

Macroalgae as a Tool for Assessing the Ecological Status of Coral Reefs Under the Water Framework Directive: A Case Study on the Reef Flats of La Réunion (Indian Ocean)

Macroalgae as a Tool for Assessing the Ecological Status of Coral Reefs Under the Water Framework Directive: A Case Study on the Reef Flats of La Réunion (Indian Ocean)

This paper identified the lack of understanding of the ability to use macroalgae as an indicator of water and ecosystem quality. While species biodiversity has...

Reserves as Tools for Alleviating Impacts of Marine Disease

Reserves as Tools for Alleviating Impacts of Marine Disease

Coral reef disease is difficult to manage, and this study explored the efficacy of reserves on promoting coral health. It is understood that human activities,...

Water Quality, Isoscapes and Stoichioscapes of Seagrasses Indicate General P Limitation and Unique N Cycling in Shallow Water Benthos of Bermuda

Water Quality, Isoscapes and Stoichioscapes of Seagrasses Indicate General P Limitation and Unique N Cycling in Shallow Water Benthos of Bermuda

In this study, seagrasses were used to track changes in water quality over time. The last few decades have brought significant decline in seagrasses in...

Principles to Enable Comprehensive National Marine Ecosystem Status Assessments from Disparate Data: The State of the Marine Environmental in Kuwait

Principles to Enable Comprehensive National Marine Ecosystem Status Assessments from Disparate Data: The State of the Marine Environmental in Kuwait

This report identifies the lack of widely accepted marine ecosystem assessment tools, reporting, and data and calls for more localized or national programs to monitor...

Wastewater Pollution on Coral Reefs

Wastewater Pollution on Coral Reefs

This science-to-policy brief outlines the threats of wastewater pollution in the ocean, including the cumulative impacts from climate change. This is a comprehensive synthesis of...

Anthropogenic Pollution of Aquatic Ecosystems: Emerging Problems with Global Implications

Anthropogenic Pollution of Aquatic Ecosystems: Emerging Problems with Global Implications

This study investigates emerging anthropogenic pollution problems threatening coastal and open ocean habitats. Five problems are considered, including inadequately treated sewage. The paper focused on...

Impacts of Land-Based Pollutants on Water Chemistry and Benthic Macroinvertebrates Community in a Coastal Lagoon, Lagos, Nigeria

Impacts of Land-Based Pollutants on Water Chemistry and Benthic Macroinvertebrates Community in a Coastal Lagoon, Lagos, Nigeria

This study explores monitoring the benthic community to approximate land-based pollution in the Lagos lagoon. The coast along Lagos lagoon is highly populated and has...

Relationships Among Microbial Indicators of Fecal Pollution, Microbial Source Tracking Markers, and Pathogens in Costa Rican Coastal Waters

Relationships Among Microbial Indicators of Fecal Pollution, Microbial Source Tracking Markers, and Pathogens in Costa Rican Coastal Waters

A pervasive challenge acknowledged by this study is the lack of clear and reliable tracers or indicators of sewage-specific land-based pollution. Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB)...

Sources and Trends of Artificial Sweeteners in Coastal Waters in the Bay of Cadiz (NE Atlantic)

Sources and Trends of Artificial Sweeteners in Coastal Waters in the Bay of Cadiz (NE Atlantic)

This study looked at artificial sweeteners as a novel indicator of sewage pollution. These synthetic substances are persistent in the environment and do not change...

Multiple Human Pressures in Coastal Habitats: Variation of Meiofaunal Assemblages Associated with Sewage Discharge in a Post-Industrial Area

Multiple Human Pressures in Coastal Habitats: Variation of Meiofaunal Assemblages Associated with Sewage Discharge in a Post-Industrial Area

This paper investigated the impact of heavy metals and hydrocarbons from sewers on meiofaunal diversity. These land-based contaminants are typically from industrial wastewater but their...

Rapid Sewage Pollution Assessment by Means of the Coverage of Epilithic Taxa in a Coastal Area in the SW Atlantic

Rapid Sewage Pollution Assessment by Means of the Coverage of Epilithic Taxa in a Coastal Area in the SW Atlantic

This study investigated changes in abundance and diversity of epilithic and benthic communities in coastal waters. As untreated effluent discharge increases with tourism, these organisms...

Cost, Energy, Global Warming, Eutrophication and Local Human Health Impacts of Community Water and Sanitation Service Options

Cost, Energy, Global Warming, Eutrophication and Local Human Health Impacts of Community Water and Sanitation Service Options

This study evaluated the sustainability of community water systems based on metrics of human health, environmental impact, economic tradeoffs, eutrophication potential, and technical resilience. Five...

Hawaii’s Cesspool Problem: Review and Recommendations for Water Resources and Human Health

Hawaii’s Cesspool Problem: Review and Recommendations for Water Resources and Human Health

This article discusses the problems of outdated and ineffective cesspools on the islands of Hawaii, which threaten both marine ecosystems and humans. Through an in-depth...

Nitrogen Pollution Interacts with Heat Stress to Increase Coral Bleaching Across the Seascape

Nitrogen Pollution Interacts with Heat Stress to Increase Coral Bleaching Across the Seascape

This study of the impact of anthropogenically derived nutrients on bleaching patterns in Pocillopora and Acropora corals determined that nutrient loading exacerbates the bleaching potential...

Rainfall and Streamflow Effects on Estuarine Staphylococcus Aureus and Fecal Indicator Bacteria Concentrations

Rainfall and Streamflow Effects on Estuarine Staphylococcus Aureus and Fecal Indicator Bacteria Concentrations

This article investigated correlations between rainfall events, river runoff, and concentrations of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus in nearshore waters. Background information about the health hazard...

The Globalization of Cultural Eutrophication in the Coastal Ocean: Causes and Consequences

The Globalization of Cultural Eutrophication in the Coastal Ocean: Causes and Consequences

In this article, the Authors outline key anthropogenic stressors in the marine environment, specifically nutrients. Increases in eutrophication point to nutrient enrichment due to land-based...

Sanitation in Challenging Environments (SCE) Project: Mobilizing Sector Engagement and Innovation in Cambodia

Sanitation in Challenging Environments (SCE) Project: Mobilizing Sector Engagement and Innovation in Cambodia

This paper presents sanitation options where “conventional sanitation solutions are not appropriate due to difficult geographical and/or geological conditions”. Cambodia is the focus area of...

Widespread Sewage Pollution of the Indian River Lagoon System, Florida (USA) Resolved by Spatial Analyses of Macroalgal Biogeochemistry

Widespread Sewage Pollution of the Indian River Lagoon System, Florida (USA) Resolved by Spatial Analyses of Macroalgal Biogeochemistry

This paper provides evidence of sewage-derived pollution as cause of ecosystem damage in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon, making a case for the need to improve...

Spatial Distribution of Sewage Pollution on a Hawaiian Coral Reef

Spatial Distribution of Sewage Pollution on a Hawaiian Coral Reef

This study used nitrogen isotopes in macroalgal tissue and various fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) to measure water quality in surface and benthic waters with the...

Effects of Tourism-Derived Sewage on Coral Reefs: Isotopic Assessments Identify Effective Bioindicators

Effects of Tourism-Derived Sewage on Coral Reefs: Isotopic Assessments Identify Effective Bioindicators

This study explored four coral reef organisms as bioindicators to increase understanding of the impacts of sewage-derived nutrients over various time scales on Palau Redang...

Predicting the Impact of Logging Activities on Soil Erosion and Water Quality in Steep, Forested Tropical Islands

Predicting the Impact of Logging Activities on Soil Erosion and Water Quality in Steep, Forested Tropical Islands

This study explored how deforestation contributes to erosion and land-based pollution that impairs downstream water quality and the need for integrating terrestrial management into marine...

Decision Analysis to Support Wastewater Management in Coral Reef Priority Area

Decision Analysis to Support Wastewater Management in Coral Reef Priority Area

To effectively protect coral reefs near West Maui, improved sewage management and identification of priority areas is needed. This study used biophysical modeling, economic analysis,...

A Septic Waste Index Model to Measure the Impact of Septic Tanks on Coastal Water Quality and Coral Reef Communities in Rincon, Puerto Rico

A Septic Waste Index Model to Measure the Impact of Septic Tanks on Coastal Water Quality and Coral Reef Communities in Rincon, Puerto Rico

This review of sewage management in Puerto Rico highlights widespread dependence on septic tanks (>50%) and ample anecdotes of leaking or overflow events resulting from...

Using Resilience Assessments to Inform the Management and Conservation of Coral Reef Ecosystems

Using Resilience Assessments to Inform the Management and Conservation of Coral Reef Ecosystems

As climate change continues to be a leading cause of coral reef decline across the globe, reef managers increasingly are seeking management and conservation actions...

Trophic Interactions in Coral Reef Restoration: A Review

Trophic Interactions in Coral Reef Restoration: A Review

Although coral restoration is a popular method of management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems, its ecological basis is under-developed. For example, in addition to...

Resilience Concepts and Their Application to Coral Reefs

Resilience Concepts and Their Application to Coral Reefs

Although the concept of resilience is widely used in coral reef science and management, the evaluation of ecosystem resilience has been challenging because it can...

Meeting Fisheries, Ecosystem Function, and Biodiversity Goals in a Human-Dominated World

Meeting Fisheries, Ecosystem Function, and Biodiversity Goals in a Human-Dominated World

Coral reef ecosystems play an important role both in promoting marine biodiversity and supporting the communities that depend on them. This study examines the conditions...

Coral Restoration – A Systematic Review of Current Methods, Successes, Failures and Future Directions

Coral Restoration – A Systematic Review of Current Methods, Successes, Failures and Future Directions

In this study, the authors synthesized the available knowledge in a comprehensive global review of coral restoration methods, incorporating data from the peer-reviewed scientific literature,...

The Future of Resilience-Based Management in Coral Reef Ecosystems

The Future of Resilience-Based Management in Coral Reef Ecosystems

This article reviews the potential of resilience-based management (RBM) to support coral reef resilience into the future and highlights opportunities and challenges faced by RBM...

Building Coral Reef Resilience Through Spatial Herbivore Management

Building Coral Reef Resilience Through Spatial Herbivore Management

Effective herbivore management is a tool that managers can use to help maintain coral reef resilience in the face of global stressors like coral bleaching...

Translating Resilience-based Management Theory to Practice for Coral Bleaching Recovery in Hawai‘i

Translating Resilience-based Management Theory to Practice for Coral Bleaching Recovery in Hawai‘i

Through this study, a literature review was conducted to evaluate and rank twelve potential management interventions to promote coral reef recovery following a coral bleaching...

Local Management Actions can Increase Coral Resilience to Thermally-Induced Bleaching

Local Management Actions can Increase Coral Resilience to Thermally-Induced Bleaching

Abstract: Recent large-scale analyses suggest that local management actions may not protect coral reefs from climate change, yet most local threat-reduction strategies have not been tested...

Host and Symbionts in Pocillopora damicornis Larvae Display Different Transcriptomic Responses to Ocean Acidification and Warming

Host and Symbionts in Pocillopora damicornis Larvae Display Different Transcriptomic Responses to Ocean Acidification and Warming

Abstract: As global ocean change progresses, reef-building corals and their early life history stages will rely on physiological plasticity to tolerate new environmental conditions. Larvae...

The Use of Larvae or Recruits in Coral Restoration Initiatives: Symbiodinium Acquisition Does Not Differ Between Coral Life Stages in the Wild

The Use of Larvae or Recruits in Coral Restoration Initiatives: Symbiodinium Acquisition Does Not Differ Between Coral Life Stages in the Wild

Abstract: Active restoration initiatives are increasingly considered in natural resource management. Laboratory‐reared coral larvae and recruits have been proposed for stock production but it is...

Loss of Coral Reef Growth Capacity to Track Future Increases in Sea Level

Loss of Coral Reef Growth Capacity to Track Future Increases in Sea Level

Abstract: Sea-level rise (SLR) is predicted to elevate water depths above coral reefs and to increase coastal wave exposure as ecological degradation limits vertical reef growth,...

A Framework for Identifying and Characterising Coral Reef “Oases” Against a Backdrop of Degradation

A Framework for Identifying and Characterising Coral Reef “Oases” Against a Backdrop of Degradation

Abstract: Human activities have led to widespread ecological decline; however, the severity of degradation is spatially heterogeneous due to some locations resisting, escaping, or rebounding from...

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Mass Bleaching of Corals in the Anthropocene

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Mass Bleaching of Corals in the Anthropocene

Abstract: Tropical reef systems are transitioning to a new era in which the interval between recurrent bouts of coral bleaching is too short for a full...

Electrolysis, Halogen Oxidizing Agents and Reef Restoration

Electrolysis, Halogen Oxidizing Agents and Reef Restoration

Abstract: Applications for electrolysis of seawater include preventing fouling in piping systems, conditioning water for aquaculture and reef restoration. Electrolysis creates a variety of chlorine-produced oxidants...

Time to Cash in on Positive Interactions for Coral Restoration

Time to Cash in on Positive Interactions for Coral Restoration

Abstract: Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems on Earth, and provide critical ecosystem services such as protein provisioning, coastal protection, and...

Interspecific Hybridization May Provide Novel Opportunities for Coral Reef Restoration

Interspecific Hybridization May Provide Novel Opportunities for Coral Reef Restoration

Abstract: Climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances have created an era characterized by the inability of most ecosystems to maintain their original, pristine states, the Anthropocene....

Dispersal Capacity and Genetic Relatedness in Acropora cervicornis on the Florida Reef Tract

Dispersal Capacity and Genetic Relatedness in Acropora cervicornis on the Florida Reef Tract

Abstract: Sexual reproduction in scleractinian corals is a critical component of species recovery, fostering population connectivity and enhancing genetic diveristy. The relative contribution of sexual reproduction...

Raising the Voices of Pacific Island Women to Inform Climate Adaptation Policies

Raising the Voices of Pacific Island Women to Inform Climate Adaptation Policies

A new paper highlights the critical role that Pacific Island women are playing in climate adaptation and provides guidance for governments, NGOs, and development agencies...

Estimating Nearshore Coral Reef-Associated Fisheries Production from the Main Hawaiian Islands

Estimating Nearshore Coral Reef-Associated Fisheries Production from the Main Hawaiian Islands

Abstract: Currently, information on nearshore reef-associated fisheries is frequently disparate or incomplete, creating a challenge for effective management. This study utilized an existing non-commercial fishery...

Response of a Fringing Reef Coastline to the Direct Impact of a Tropical Cyclone

Response of a Fringing Reef Coastline to the Direct Impact of a Tropical Cyclone

Abstract: Tropical cyclones generate extreme hazards along coastlines, often leading to losses of life and property. Although coral reefs exist in cyclone-prone regions globally, few...

Nudging Pro-Environmental Behavior: Evidence and Opportunities

Nudging Pro-Environmental Behavior: Evidence and Opportunities

Abstract: Human behavior is responsible for many of our greatest environmental challenges. The accumulated effects of many individual and household decisions have major negative impacts...

Harnessing Ecological Processes to Facilitate Coral Restoration

Harnessing Ecological Processes to Facilitate Coral Restoration

Abstract: Incorporating ecological processes into restoration planning is increasingly recognized as a fundamental component of successful restoration strategies. We outline a scientific framework to advance...

Impacts of Fragment Genotype, Habitat, and Size on Outplanted Elkhorn Coral Success Under Thermal Stress

Impacts of Fragment Genotype, Habitat, and Size on Outplanted Elkhorn Coral Success Under Thermal Stress

Abstract: Active coral restoration through coral ‘gardening’ aims to remediate some of the drastic coral cover lost on Caribbean reefs, with increasing attention to the...

Coral Reefs Will Transition to Net Dissolving Before End of Century

Coral Reefs Will Transition to Net Dissolving Before End of Century

Abstract: Ocean acidification refers to the lowering of the ocean’s pH due to the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere. Coral reef calcification is...

Assisted Fertilization of Threatened Staghorn Coral to Complement the Restoration of Nurseries in Southeastern Dominican Republic

Assisted Fertilization of Threatened Staghorn Coral to Complement the Restoration of Nurseries in Southeastern Dominican Republic

Abstract: Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata have declined dramatically in the Caribbean since the early 80’s, and are classified as Critically Endangered Species. To promote...

Timing of Mass Spawning in Corals: Potential Influence of the Coincidence of Lunar Factors & Associated Changes in Atmospheric Pressure

Timing of Mass Spawning in Corals: Potential Influence of the Coincidence of Lunar Factors & Associated Changes in Atmospheric Pressure

Abstract: Synchronised multispecies mass spawning events are striking features of reproduction in corals. This synchronous gamete release of thousands of animals over vast stretches of...

Coral Reefs for Coastal Protection: A New Methodological Approach and Engineering Case Study in Grenada

Coral Reefs for Coastal Protection: A New Methodological Approach and Engineering Case Study in Grenada

Abstract: Coastal communities in tropical environments are at increasing risk from both environmental degradation and climate change and require urgent local adaptation action. Evidences show...

A Potential Method for Improving Coral Self-Attachment

A Potential Method for Improving Coral Self-Attachment

Abstract: Coral restoration is becoming increasingly important to sustain declining reefs. The survival rate of translocated corals in restoration projects is around 65%. This rate...

The Use of Larvae or Recruits in Coral Restoration Initiatives: Symbiodinium Acquisition Does Not Differ Between Coral Life Stages in the Wild

The Use of Larvae or Recruits in Coral Restoration Initiatives: Symbiodinium Acquisition Does Not Differ Between Coral Life Stages in the Wild

Abstract: Active restoration initiatives are increasingly considered in natural resource management. Laboratory reared coral larvae and recruits have been proposed for stock production but it...

Climate Change Promotes Parasitism In a Coral Symbiosis

Climate Change Promotes Parasitism In a Coral Symbiosis

Abstract: Coastal oceans are increasingly eutrophic, warm and acidic through the addition of anthropogenic nitrogen and carbon, respectively. Among the most sensitive taxa to these...

Plastic Waste Associated With Disease On Coral Reefs

Plastic Waste Associated With Disease On Coral Reefs

Abstract: Plastic waste can promote microbial colonization by pathogens implicated in outbreaks of disease in the ocean. We assessed the influence of plastic waste on...

De Novo Assembly and Annotation of the Acropora gemmifera Transcriptome

De Novo Assembly and Annotation of the Acropora gemmifera Transcriptome

Abstract: Stony corals from the genus Acropora are widely distributed, important reef-builders and have become increasingly utilized for investigating links between genetics and spawning behaviour....

Effects of Thermal Stress and Nitrate Enrichment on the Larval Performance of Two Caribbean Reef Corals

Effects of Thermal Stress and Nitrate Enrichment on the Larval Performance of Two Caribbean Reef Corals

Abstract: The effects of multiple stressors on the early life stages of reef-building corals are poorly understood. Elevated temperature is the main physiological driver of...

Ice Volume and Climate Changes From a 6000 Year Sea-level Record in French Polynesia

Ice Volume and Climate Changes From a 6000 Year Sea-level Record in French Polynesia

Abstract: Mid- to late-Holocene sea-level records from low-latitude regions serve as an important baseline of natural variability in sea level and global ice volume prior...

Bleaching Events Regulate Shifts From Corals to Excavating Sponges in Algae-dominated Reefs

Bleaching Events Regulate Shifts From Corals to Excavating Sponges in Algae-dominated Reefs

Abstract: Changes in coral–sponge interactions can alter reef accretion/erosion balance and are important to predict trends on current algal-dominated Caribbean reefs. Although sponge abundance is...

Taking the Metabolic Pulse of the World’s Coral Reefs

Taking the Metabolic Pulse of the World’s Coral Reefs

Abstract: Worldwide, coral reef ecosystems are experiencing increasing pressure from a variety of anthropogenic perturbations including ocean warming and acidification, increased sedimentation, eutrophication, and overfishing,...

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Mass Bleaching of Corals In the Anthropocene

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Mass Bleaching of Corals In the Anthropocene

Abstract: Tropical reef systems are transitioning to a new era in which the interval between recurrent bouts of coral bleaching is too short for a...

Molecular Characterization of Larval Development from Fertilization to Metamorphosis In a Reef-building Coral

Molecular Characterization of Larval Development from Fertilization to Metamorphosis In a Reef-building Coral

Abstract: Background- Molecular mechanisms underlying coral larval competence, the ability of larvae to respond to settlement cues, determine their dispersal potential and are potential targets...

Corals in Healthy Populations Produce More Larvae Per Unit Cover

Corals in Healthy Populations Produce More Larvae Per Unit Cover

Abstract: In coral reef conservation and management, the prevailing metric of reef health is percent coral cover, a measurement commonly used with the assumption that...

The Social Life of Okinawan Corals

The Social Life of Okinawan Corals

In Japan, degradation of the nation’s southwestern coral reefs has been identified as a pressing environmental problem, and corals have been transformed into valuable commodities...

Coral Bleaching Futures

Coral Bleaching Futures

Coral Bleaching Futures - Downscaled Projections of Bleaching Conditions for the World's Coral Reefs, Implications of Climate Policy and Management Responses Increasingly frequent severe coral bleaching...

A Guide to Assessing Coral Reef Resilience for Decision Support

A Guide to Assessing Coral Reef Resilience for Decision Support

Maintaining and restoring resilience is now a major focus of most coral reef managers around the world. A focus on resilience gives us options -...

Connecting Palau's Marine Protected Areas: A Population Genetics Approach to Conservation

Connecting Palau's Marine Protected Areas: A Population Genetics Approach to Conservation

Aerial view of Kmekumer, Rock Islands, in Palau. Photo © Jez O'Hare RRN interviewed author Dr. Annick Cros, researcher at the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology,...

Population Genetic Structure Between Yap and Palau for the Coral Acropora Hyacinthus

Population Genetic Structure Between Yap and Palau for the Coral Acropora Hyacinthus

Vibrant coral reef in Palau. Photo © Ian Shive RRN interviewed Dr. Annick Cros, coral reef scientist at the Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology, to hear...

Building Coral Reef Resilience Through Assisted Evolution

Building Coral Reef Resilience Through Assisted Evolution

There is concern that elevated sea temperatures and ocean acidification may influence the resilience of coral reefs, inherently affecting their vital role of providing the...

Marine Protected Areas Increase Resilience Among Coral Reef Communities

Marine Protected Areas Increase Resilience Among Coral Reef Communities

Whether or not marine protected areas (MPAs) can help mitigate the effects of multiple stressors and promote coral reef resilience around the world remains controversial....

Synergistic Impacts of Global Warming on the Resilience of Coral Reefs

Synergistic Impacts of Global Warming on the Resilience of Coral Reefs

There have been few investigations on the effects of climate change on coral reef resilience. This study focuses on how a single climate driver, sea...

Bright Spots Among the World’s Coral Reefs

Bright Spots Among the World’s Coral Reefs

This study suggests that we can learn a significant amount about coral reef decline by identifying outliers. These outliers include areas where ecosystems performed better...

Operationalising Resilience for Adaptive Coral Reef Management Under Global Environmental Change

Operationalising Resilience for Adaptive Coral Reef Management Under Global Environmental Change

In a world where coral reefs face continual and mounting pressures, there is a need for adaptive resilience based management (ARBM) of these systems to...

An Integrated Coral Reef Ecosystem Model to Support Resource Management under a Changing Climate

An Integrated Coral Reef Ecosystem Model to Support Resource Management under a Changing Climate

Ecosystem-based management is a useful management tool that considers both indirect and cumulative effects of added stressors to a system. Ecosystem models, especially those that...

Toward a Social Science Research Agenda for Large Marine Protected Areas

Toward a Social Science Research Agenda for Large Marine Protected Areas

Large marine protected areas (LMPAs) are an emerging trend and are critical to achieving the Conservation on Biological Diversity’s target to protect 10% of the...

Transforming Management of Tropical Coastal Seas to Cope with Challenges of the 21st Century

Transforming Management of Tropical Coastal Seas to Cope with Challenges of the 21st Century

Marine spatial planning (MSP) and ocean zoning is a holistic tool that spatially prioritizes management attention where it is most needed. MSP addresses conflicting uses...

No Reef is an Island: Integrating Coral Reef Connectivity Data into the Design of Regional-Scale Marine Protected Area Networks

No Reef is an Island: Integrating Coral Reef Connectivity Data into the Design of Regional-Scale Marine Protected Area Networks

Countries around the world are taking actions to promote coral reef conservation and management. For example, many countries are working to expand protection of coral...

Toxicopathological Effects of the Sunscreen UV Filter, Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3), on Coral Planulae and Cultured Primary Cells and its Environmental Contamination

Toxicopathological Effects of the Sunscreen UV Filter, Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3), on Coral Planulae and Cultured Primary Cells and its Environmental Contamination

Managing exposure of corals to oxybenzone, a common ingredient found in sunscreen lotions, is critical for managing for coral reef resilience. A new study found...

Environmental and Biotic Correlates to Lionfish Invasion Success in Bahamian Coral Reefs

Environmental and Biotic Correlates to Lionfish Invasion Success in Bahamian Coral Reefs

Lionfish (Pterois volitans) from the Indo-Pacific have recently invaded the Caribbean and southeastern coast of North America. This study looked at lionfish abundances and the...

Minimizing the Short-Term Impacts of Marine Reserves on Fisheries While Meeting Long-Term Goals for Recovery

Minimizing the Short-Term Impacts of Marine Reserves on Fisheries While Meeting Long-Term Goals for Recovery

No-take marine reserves are often proposed as management tools to recover small-scale fisheries, which, if enforced, can improve mid to long-term harvests and profits. However,...

Coral Reef Disturbance and Recovery Dynamics Differ Across Gradients of Localized Stressors in the Mariana Islands

Coral Reef Disturbance and Recovery Dynamics Differ Across Gradients of Localized Stressors in the Mariana Islands

Disturbance and recovery patters of coral reefs in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands were studied over a 12-year period, including Crown of Thorns...

The Micronesia Challenge: Assessing The Relative Contribution Of Stressors On Coral Reefs To Facilitate Science-To-Management Feedback

The Micronesia Challenge: Assessing The Relative Contribution Of Stressors On Coral Reefs To Facilitate Science-To-Management Feedback

The Micronesia Challenge is an international conservation strategy initiated by the political leaders of 6 tropical island nations to conserve at least 30% of marine...

Evaluating Taboo Trade-Offs In Ecosystems Services And Human Well-Being

Evaluating Taboo Trade-Offs In Ecosystems Services And Human Well-Being

In a new paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers analyzed the various trade-offs involved when fisheries managers in Kenya...

Evaluating The Relative Conservation Value Of Fully And Partially Protected Marine Areas

Evaluating The Relative Conservation Value Of Fully And Partially Protected Marine Areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) offer various states of protection and are often viewed as a conflict between conservation and fishing. This study synthesized research that...

The Influence Of Fisher Knowledge On The Susceptibility Of Reef Fish Aggregations To Fishing

The Influence Of Fisher Knowledge On The Susceptibility Of Reef Fish Aggregations To Fishing

Interview-based surveys were conducted with 16 fishers each from two fishing communities in Papua New Guinea, to examine how local context influenced heterogeneity in knowledge...

Density-Dependent Effects On Initial Growth Of A Branching Coral Under Restoration

Density-Dependent Effects On Initial Growth Of A Branching Coral Under Restoration

Coral reef restoration is a process by which key habitat-forming species are reestablished in threatened coral ecosystems to help them recover from severe declines. However,...

Marine Zoning In St. Kitts And Nevis: A Design For Sustainable Management In The Caribbean

Marine Zoning In St. Kitts And Nevis: A Design For Sustainable Management In The Caribbean

This paper details a marine zoning process for the island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Eastern Caribbean, incorporating the use of marine...

Sewage Pollution: Mitigation Is Key For Coral Reef Stewardship

Sewage Pollution: Mitigation Is Key For Coral Reef Stewardship

In this new paper, the authors highlight the importance of addressing sewage, a global stressor affecting coral reefs. The authors note that of 112 coral...

The Intrinsic Vulnerability To Fishing Of Coral Reef Fishes And Their Differential Recovery In Fishery Closures

The Intrinsic Vulnerability To Fishing Of Coral Reef Fishes And Their Differential Recovery In Fishery Closures

Coral reef fisheries play a role in livelihoods and local economies around the world, but the impacts of fishing on targeted species of reef fish...

Reviving the Ocean Economy: The Case For Action – 2015

Reviving the Ocean Economy: The Case For Action – 2015

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, in partnership with the University of Queensland, Boston Consulting Group, and WWF, has just launched a new report: Reviving the Ocean Economy: The...

Herbivory And The Resilience Of Caribbean Coral Reefs: Knowledge Gaps And Implications For Management

Herbivory And The Resilience Of Caribbean Coral Reefs: Knowledge Gaps And Implications For Management

This paper explores herbivory and how it affects the resilience of coral reefs in the Caribbean. The authors identify important knowledge gaps that limit our...

Recovery Potential Of The World’s Coral Reef Fishes

Recovery Potential Of The World’s Coral Reef Fishes

Fishing is the primary source of reduced reef function globally. Marine reserves are a critical tool to help fish populations recover, however, there are no...

Biogeography And Change Among Regional Coral Communities Across The Western Indian Ocean

Biogeography And Change Among Regional Coral Communities Across The Western Indian Ocean

Following the major 1998 coral bleaching event between 2004 and 2011, 291 coral sites from 11 Western Indian Ocean (WIO) countries were surveyed to evaluate...

Coral Reefs On The Edge? Carbon Chemistry On Inshore Reefs Of The Great Barrier Reef

Coral Reefs On The Edge? Carbon Chemistry On Inshore Reefs Of The Great Barrier Reef

This study presents broad-scale carbon chemistry data from Great Barrier Reef (GBR) inshore coral reefs to test for regional and season differences between inorganic carbon...

Towards A Network of Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) In The Western Indian Ocean

Towards A Network of Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) In The Western Indian Ocean

This study describes the increasing use of community based management of marine resources in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) and assesses locally managed marine areas...

Sediment And Turbidity Associated With Offshore Dredging Increase Coral Disease Prevalence on Nearby Reefs

Sediment And Turbidity Associated With Offshore Dredging Increase Coral Disease Prevalence on Nearby Reefs

This study provides the first empirical evidence linking turbidity and sedimentation with elevated levels of coral disease and other indicators of compromised health in situ....

Relationship Between Phylogeny And Immunity Suggests Older Caribbean Coral Lineages Are More Resistant to Disease

Relationship Between Phylogeny And Immunity Suggests Older Caribbean Coral Lineages Are More Resistant to Disease

This study looked at the evolutionary importance of coral immune traits, which are related to phylogeny in other organisms. 140 different fragments from healthy coral...

Community Change and Evidence For Variable Warm-Water Temperature Adaptation Of Corals In Northern Male Atoll, Maldives

Community Change and Evidence For Variable Warm-Water Temperature Adaptation Of Corals In Northern Male Atoll, Maldives

This study is a descriptive analysis of coral reef communities in North Male, Maldives seven years after the major 1998 coral bleaching event with the...

Larval Dispersal And Movement Patterns Of Coral Reef Fishes, And Implications For Marine Reserve Network Design

Larval Dispersal And Movement Patterns Of Coral Reef Fishes, And Implications For Marine Reserve Network Design

Marine reserves are an effective tool for conservation and fisheries management in tropical marine ecosystems. They provide benefits to surrounding areas through the export of...

Coral Reef Community Composition in the Context of Disturbance History on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Coral Reef Community Composition in the Context of Disturbance History on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Spatial assessments of coral reef communities across five reefs of the central Great Barrier Reef were conducted. Reef condition proxies included coral cover, coral composition,...

Marine Protected Area Networks: Assessing Whether the Whole is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts

Marine Protected Area Networks: Assessing Whether the Whole is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts

This study looks at whether MPAs in a given network have synergistic benefits on ecological, economic, and social management levels. A proposed analytical framework assessed...

Retention of Habitat Complexity Minimizes Disassembly of Reef Fish Communities following Disturbance: A Large-Scale Natural Experiment

Retention of Habitat Complexity Minimizes Disassembly of Reef Fish Communities following Disturbance: A Large-Scale Natural Experiment

A natural experiment used data collected over 20 years from reefs spread over 115,000 km2 of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) to test how the...

Persistence and Change in Community Composition of Reef Corals through Present, Past and Future Climates

Persistence and Change in Community Composition of Reef Corals through Present, Past and Future Climates

This study looked at long-term data from fossil and modern coral reefs to test for variation among coral genera over time, both in rates and...

Assessing Habitat Risk From Human Activities To Inform Coastal And Marine Spatial Planning: A Demonstration In Belize

Assessing Habitat Risk From Human Activities To Inform Coastal And Marine Spatial Planning: A Demonstration In Belize

The expansion of existing and emerging ocean uses has negative effects on ecosystems that provide habitat for key species and benefits to people. Integrated coastal...

Perceived Benefits of Fisheries Management Restrictions in Madagascar

Perceived Benefits of Fisheries Management Restrictions in Madagascar

Support for fisheries restrictions in coastal villages along coral reefs in Madagascar was studied to help guide the development of effective management practices. In Madagascar,...

Meta-Analysis Indicates Habitat-Specific Alterations to Primary Producer and Herbivore Communities in Marine Protected Areas

Meta-Analysis Indicates Habitat-Specific Alterations to Primary Producer and Herbivore Communities in Marine Protected Areas

A recent global quantitative review and meta-analysis was conducted on the effects of MPAs on coral reef herbivores and primary producers to support management decisions....

Fish with Chips: Tracking Reef Fish Movements to Evaluate Size and Connectivity of Caribbean Marine Protected Areas

Fish with Chips: Tracking Reef Fish Movements to Evaluate Size and Connectivity of Caribbean Marine Protected Areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are commonly implemented in the Caribbean to address the rapid decline in the quality of coral reefs and in the abundance...

Developing Marine Protected Area Networks in the Coral Triangle: Good Practices for Expanding the Coral Triangle Marine Protected Area System

Developing Marine Protected Area Networks in the Coral Triangle: Good Practices for Expanding the Coral Triangle Marine Protected Area System

The authors describe six case studies of marine protected area (MPA) networks in the Coral Triangle region that differ in scale and the approach taken...

Contrasting Patterns of Coral Bleaching Susceptibility in 2010 Suggest an Adaptive Response to Thermal Stress

Contrasting Patterns of Coral Bleaching Susceptibility in 2010 Suggest an Adaptive Response to Thermal Stress

Guest et al. (2012) examine the bleaching and mortality responses of corals at sites in Southeast Asia with different thermal histories during a large-scale bleaching...

How Are Our MPAs Doing? Challenges in Assessing Global Patterns in Marine Protected Area Performance

How Are Our MPAs Doing? Challenges in Assessing Global Patterns in Marine Protected Area Performance

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are established for a variety of reasons including: protecting marine biodiversity and habitats from degradation, replenishing depleted fish populations, regulating tourism...

Invasive Lionfish in the Marketplace: Challenges and Opportunities

Invasive Lionfish in the Marketplace: Challenges and Opportunities

Since the 1980s, invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish have spread throughout the western Atlantic and Caribbean, threatening biodiversity and native reef fish, which are the livelihood of...

Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012, Executive Summary

Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012, Executive Summary

Since the early 1980s Caribbean coral reefs have suffered massive losses of corals. Impacts from human population growth, overfishing, coastal pollution, global warming and invasive...

Designing Marine Reserves for Fisheries Management, Biodiversity Conservation, and Climate Change Adaptation

Designing Marine Reserves for Fisheries Management, Biodiversity Conservation, and Climate Change Adaptation

Coral reef ecosystem goods and services, such as fisheries, are threatened by local and global stressors. Effectively designed and managed marine reserve networks (areas closed...

The Effectiveness of Coral Reefs for Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction and Adaptation

The Effectiveness of Coral Reefs for Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction and Adaptation

A global meta-analysis revealed that coral reefs reduce wave energy on coastlines by 97% on average, with the reef crest responsible for attenuating 86% of...

Experiment Mimics Fishing on Parrotfish: Insights on Coral Reef Recovery and Alternative Attractors

Experiment Mimics Fishing on Parrotfish: Insights on Coral Reef Recovery and Alternative Attractors

Alternative stable states and phase shifts of coral- to algae- dominated systems has been observed on Caribbean coral reefs with little or no signs of...

Time Preferences and the Management of Coral Reef Fisheries

Time Preferences and the Management of Coral Reef Fisheries

To better understand resource use patterns in Curaçao and Bonaire in the southeast Caribbean, the authors conducted a socioeconomic study of the time preferences and...

Chronic Nutrient Enrichment Increases Prevalence and Severity of Coral Disease and Bleaching

Chronic Nutrient Enrichment Increases Prevalence and Severity of Coral Disease and Bleaching

After exposing test plots in the Florida Keys, USA to increased nutrients (at levels equivalent to nutrient input from onshore sources), researchers found that increased...

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Wary? Effect of Repeated Culling on the Behaviour of an Invasive Predator

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Wary? Effect of Repeated Culling on the Behaviour of an Invasive Predator

Researchers in the Bahamas found that lionfish on culled reefs altered their behavior. They were less active and hid deeper during the day, when culling...

Global Conservation Outcomes Depend on Marine Protected Areas With Five Key Features

Global Conservation Outcomes Depend on Marine Protected Areas With Five Key Features

Dr. Graham Edgar and his 24 co-authors stirred up the marine conservation world with their recent article in which they review 87 MPAs at 964...

Monitoring Herbivorous Fishes as Indicators of Coral Reef Resilience in American Samoa

Monitoring Herbivorous Fishes as Indicators of Coral Reef Resilience in American Samoa

The authors explored the facilitation of herbivore functional groups (large excavators/bioeroders and scrapers/small excavators, parrotfishes in both cases) in coral and crustose coralline algae settlement,...

Caught in the Middle: Combined Impacts of Shark Removal and Coral Loss on the Fish Communities of Coral Reefs

Caught in the Middle: Combined Impacts of Shark Removal and Coral Loss on the Fish Communities of Coral Reefs

Researchers used long-term monitored reefs off the coast of north-western Australia to understand how fishing changed shark communities in coral reef ecosystems. Two uninhabitated areas...

Mass Coral Bleaching in 2010 in the Southern Caribbean

Mass Coral Bleaching in 2010 in the Southern Caribbean

The authors, Alemu and Clement, monitored the bleaching response at 3 sites across Tobago during a bleaching event in 2010. The purpose was to find...

Opposite Latitudinal Gradients in Projected Ocean Acidification and Bleaching Impacts on Coral Reefs

Opposite Latitudinal Gradients in Projected Ocean Acidification and Bleaching Impacts on Coral Reefs

A new Google Earth tool contains the most recent projections of coral bleaching and ocean acidification for all coral reef areas. The projections are based...

Modelling Coral Reef Futures to Inform Management: Can Reducing Local-Scale Stressors Conserve Reefs under Climate Change?

Modelling Coral Reef Futures to Inform Management: Can Reducing Local-Scale Stressors Conserve Reefs under Climate Change?

A lack of understanding of the impacts of multiple stressors on coral reefs in a changing climate and the most effective management strategies was addressed...

Catch Rates, Composition and Fish Size from Reefs Managed with Periodically-Harvested Closures

Catch Rates, Composition and Fish Size from Reefs Managed with Periodically-Harvested Closures

Can periodically-harvested closures provide benefits to small-scale multi-species fisheries? This is the question the researchers, Cohen and Alexander sought to test in the Solomon Islands....

Managing Resilience to Reverse Phase Shifts in Coral Reefs

Managing Resilience to Reverse Phase Shifts in Coral Reefs

In this article, the authors advocate for managing resilience of degrading ecosystems to reverse phase shifts from a macro-algal state back to a coral state,...

Global Assessment of the Status of Coral Reef Herbivorous Fishes: Evidence for Fishing Effects

Global Assessment of the Status of Coral Reef Herbivorous Fishes: Evidence for Fishing Effects

The authors conducted a large-scale synthesis of data to assess the global status of herbivorous fish. They found much higher biomass (2 times higher) in...

The 2nd Annual Coral Reef Conservation and Management Conference

The 2nd Annual Coral Reef Conservation and Management Conference

This document provides a written summary of the talks presented. The summaries are organized chronologically with a paragraph describing each speaker. Powerpoint slides of the presentations...

Monitoring Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas

Monitoring Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas

A practical guide on how monitoring can support effective management of MPAs. Produced by the Australian Institute of Marine Science and IUCN Global Marine Program, this...

Adaptive Comanagement of a Marine Protected Area Network in Fiji

Adaptive Comanagement of a Marine Protected Area Network in Fiji

Adaptive management is an iterative process by which management strategies are adjusted with new information. Although there are calls for adaptive management, few on-the-ground examples...

Restrictions in Marine Protected Areas in the Coral Triangle - The coral reef crisis: The critical importance of <350 ppm CO2

Restrictions in Marine Protected Areas in the Coral Triangle - The coral reef crisis: The critical importance of

The authors of this paper outline the grim state and future of coral reef ecosystems, and the consequential domino effects to follow for other systems...

Modelling Reef Fish Population Responses to Fisheries

Modelling Reef Fish Population Responses to Fisheries

This study used marine ecosystem models (Ecopath, Ecosim, and Ecospace modeling software) to assess MPA effectiveness in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. The authors took field data from...

Heeding a Call to Action—US Coral Reefs: The Untapped Potential of the Clean Water Act

Heeding a Call to Action—US Coral Reefs: The Untapped Potential of the Clean Water Act

This editorial, by the US Environmental Protection Agency, calls attention to the Clean Water Act (CWA), which can provide an opportunity to incorporate scientific knowledge...

A Global Estimate of the Number of Coral Reef Fishers

A Global Estimate of the Number of Coral Reef Fishers

Coral reef fisheries management lacks an accurate estimate of reef fishers regionally and globally. In a study to address this data gap, Teh et al....

Do Some Corals Like It Hot?

Do Some Corals Like It Hot?

The Adaptive Bleaching Hypothesis is a controversial theory that states that stress resistant coral-zooxanthellae associations can develop from frequent and severe environmental stress. This hypothesis...

A Global Analysis of the Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in Preventing Coral Loss

A Global Analysis of the Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in Preventing Coral Loss

The authors of this paper compiled a global database of 8534 live coral surveys from 1969-2006 to compare annual changes in coral cover inside 310...

Critical Science Gaps Impede Use of No-take Fishery Reserves

Critical Science Gaps Impede Use of No-take Fishery Reserves

Coastal marine fisheries are under an ever-increasing risk of collapse due to over-exploitation and human-caused degradation of coastal marine habitats and ecosystems. No-take fishery reserves...

What Makes a “Successful” Marine Protected Area? The Unique Context of Hawaii′s Fish Replenishment Areas

What Makes a “Successful” Marine Protected Area? The Unique Context of Hawaii′s Fish Replenishment Areas

The authors examine fish replenishment areas (FRAs) in the context of Hawaii’s MPA system. Because the FRAs (which restrict aquarium fishing for one target species,...

Global Disparity in the Resilience of Coral Reefs

Global Disparity in the Resilience of Coral Reefs

The article reviews whether current knowledge of coral reef resilience, as it has historically been researched specifically in the Caribbean region, is transferrable to Indo-Pacific...

Are U.S. Coral Reefs on the Slippery Slope to Slime?

Are U.S. Coral Reefs on the Slippery Slope to Slime?

This article has received significant attention from researchers, managers, and the public. It is a bit controversial and the doom and gloom picture presented may or...

Ecological Persistence Interrupted in Caribbean Coral Reefs

Ecological Persistence Interrupted in Caribbean Coral Reefs

Pandolfi and Jackson quantify the habitat stability in Caribbean coral communities during the Pleistocene, comparing records from several hundred thousand years ago to modern community structure....

Global Trajectories of the Long-Term Decline of Coral Reef Ecosystems

Global Trajectories of the Long-Term Decline of Coral Reef Ecosystems

This paper compiles historical records extending back several thousand years to construct a global summary (from 14 regions) of changes in seven major guilds of carnivores,...

Do Fluctuating Temperature Environments Elevate Coral Thermal Tolerance?

Do Fluctuating Temperature Environments Elevate Coral Thermal Tolerance?

While differences in thermal tolerance among regions with distinct annual mean temperatures were first recognized as evidence of coral thermal adaptation or acclimatization, thermal variation...

Relating Landscape Development Intensity to Coral Reef Condition in the Watersheds of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

Relating Landscape Development Intensity to Coral Reef Condition in the Watersheds of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

This study relates coral reef condition to human modifications of the landscape. Stony coral community richness, cover, colony size, and density were assessed along with...

Community Change within a Caribbean Coral Reef Marine Protected Area following Two Decades of Local Management

Community Change within a Caribbean Coral Reef Marine Protected Area following Two Decades of Local Management

Authors of this study examine effects of spatial zoning and management of the Saba Marine Park (Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean) on coral reef communities over 21...

Coral Larvae Under Ocean Acidification: Survival, Metabolism, and Metamorphosis

Coral Larvae Under Ocean Acidification: Survival, Metabolism, and Metamorphosis

The authors examined the metabolism of coral larvae under different pH conditions to explain the observed, uniform, survival rate of coral larvae under different pH...

Marine Reserves Enhance the Recovery of Corals on Caribbean Reefs

Marine Reserves Enhance the Recovery of Corals on Caribbean Reefs

The results of this study demonstrate that reserves can enhance coral recovery. In this study, the authors evaluated coral population dynamics to determine if reductions in...

Trophic Cascade Facilitates Coral Recruitment in a Marine Reserve

Trophic Cascade Facilitates Coral Recruitment in a Marine Reserve

This study examined whether or not grazing by fishes determined macroalgal cover, which in turn influences the recruitment of coral species on Caribbean reefs. The authors...

Fishing, Trophic Cascades, and the Process of Grazing on Coral Reefs

Fishing, Trophic Cascades, and the Process of Grazing on Coral Reefs

Mumby and others examine the critical question, “How does predation impact herbivorous fish populations and subsequent grazing intensity within non-fished marine reserves?” Using the Exuma Cays...

Coral Reefs and the Global Network of Marine Protected Areas

Coral Reefs and the Global Network of Marine Protected Areas

Mora et al. provide a critique of MPA networks globally. Based on prior work that suggests MPAs be at least 10km2 in area and 15km...

Evidence That Marine Reserves Enhance Resilience to Climatic Impacts

Evidence That Marine Reserves Enhance Resilience to Climatic Impacts

In this study of benthic invertebrates in Baja California, Mexico, the authors examined the effects of marine reserves on the population of an abalone after...

Large-scale Stress Factors Affecting Coral Reefs: Open Ocean Sea Surface Temperature and Surface Seawater Aragonite Saturation Over the Next 400 Years

Large-scale Stress Factors Affecting Coral Reefs: Open Ocean Sea Surface Temperature and Surface Seawater Aragonite Saturation Over the Next 400 Years

This study seeks to investigate three IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) representative pathways (RCP) and their differing impacts of environmental stressors to coral reefs...

Preparing to Manage Coral Reefs for Ocean Acidification: Lessons from Coral Bleaching

Preparing to Manage Coral Reefs for Ocean Acidification: Lessons from Coral Bleaching

The authors examine the lessons learned from the implementation of management strategies to address the impacts of coral reef bleaching and how these strategies may...

A Comparison of Marine Protected Areas and Alternative Approaches to Coral-Reef Management

A Comparison of Marine Protected Areas and Alternative Approaches to Coral-Reef Management

An objective look at different types of MPAs and their effectiveness in conserving reef resources, the results reveal that three of the four sites that demonstrated...

Prioritizing Key Resilience Indicators to Support Coral Reef Management in a Changing Climate

Prioritizing Key Resilience Indicators to Support Coral Reef Management in a Changing Climate

The authors of this study ranked coral reef resilience factors based on their perceived importance by 28 coral reef experts and based on scientific evidence...

Heterogeneity in Fishers’ and Managers’ Preferences Towards Management Restrictions and Benefits in Kenya

Heterogeneity in Fishers’ and Managers’ Preferences Towards Management Restrictions and Benefits in Kenya

402 people (including 19 managers) from 22 landing sites were surveyed in Coastal Kenya about their views of management regulations of fishing and perceived personal...

Human and Coral Reef Use Interactions: From Impacts to Solutions?

Human and Coral Reef Use Interactions: From Impacts to Solutions?

This article reviews current scientific preferences in coral reef research to determine if information needed to solve problems associated with coral reef and reef fisheries...

Global Gradients of Coral Exposure to Environmental Stresses and Implications for Local Management

Global Gradients of Coral Exposure to Environmental Stresses and Implications for Local Management

In this study, researchers aimed to identify global spatial gradients of thermal and eutrophication stressors, and the key factors that reduce these stressors, to develop...

A Framework for Comparing Coral Bleaching Thresholds

A Framework for Comparing Coral Bleaching Thresholds

The authors found that the “MMMmax” method for predicting bleaching has the highest predictive power at all spatial and temporal resolutions.Coral reef managers who subscribe...

The Relationship Between Diver Experience Levels and Perceptions of Attractiveness of Artificial Reefs – Examination of a Potential Management Tool

The Relationship Between Diver Experience Levels and Perceptions of Attractiveness of Artificial Reefs – Examination of a Potential Management Tool

After analyzing responses from 300 questionnaires distributed to divers in Barbados, the authors find that novice (fewer than 100 dives) divers preferred to dive on...

Avoiding Coral Reef Functional Collapse Requires Local and Global Action

Avoiding Coral Reef Functional Collapse Requires Local and Global Action

This paper uses modeling on Caribbean reefs to emphasize the need for both local action and a low-carbon economy to prevent further degradation of coral...

Coral Decline Threatens Fish Biodiversity in Marine Reserves

Coral Decline Threatens Fish Biodiversity in Marine Reserves

Marine reserves are traditionally thought to be able to protect fish from exploitation;however,“top down” management preventing the exploitation of reef fishes may not be enough....

Caribbean Acropora Restoration Guide: Best Practices for Propagation and Population Enhancement

Caribbean Acropora Restoration Guide: Best Practices for Propagation and Population Enhancement

This practical guide for coral reef managers and practitioners provides best practice methods for Acropora coral restoration projects to ensure maximum propagation and survival. This...

Assessing Environmental Damage to Marine Protected Area: A Case of Perhentian Marine Park in Malaysia

Assessing Environmental Damage to Marine Protected Area: A Case of Perhentian Marine Park in Malaysia

Tourism (including diving, snorkeling, swimming and recreational fishing) in and around Perhentian Marine Park on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia is having a negative...

New paradigms for supporting the resilience of marine ecosystems

New paradigms for supporting the resilience of marine ecosystems

This review article discusses the emergence of a multi-system approach for MPA management including managing for social-ecological resilience. Hughes et al. discuss the need to move...

Projected Changes to Growth and Mortality of Hawaiian Corals over the Next 100 Years

Projected Changes to Growth and Mortality of Hawaiian Corals over the Next 100 Years

This study investigates the use of modeling techniques to quantitatively examine rates of coral cover change due to these effects. Broad-scale probabilities of change in...

Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

Levels of atmospheric CO2 continues to rise and threaten coral reefs globally. This is because atmospheric CO2 reacts with water in the ocean to produce...

Assessing Gear Modifications Needed to Optimize Yields in a Heavily Exploited, Multi-Species, Seagrass and Coral Reef Fishery

Assessing Gear Modifications Needed to Optimize Yields in a Heavily Exploited, Multi-Species, Seagrass and Coral Reef Fishery

This article addresses the need for increased gear-based management in coral reef and seagrass fisheries, as it has the potential to be adaptive, address multiple...

Placing Marine Protected Areas onto the Ecosystem-based Management Seascape

Placing Marine Protected Areas onto the Ecosystem-based Management Seascape

Despite the important overlap and common goals between marine protected areas (MPAs) and marine ecosystem-based management (EBM), the two approaches have remained separated in conservation...

Matching Marine Reserve Design to Reserve Objectives

Matching Marine Reserve Design to Reserve Objectives

Halpern and Warner discuss various stakeholder interests and suggest potential reserve designs that meet the needs of both conservation efforts and stakeholders. Management for ecotourism...

Heterotrophic Plasticity and Resilience in Bleached Corals

Heterotrophic Plasticity and Resilience in Bleached Corals

This paper aims to understand the mechanisms responsible for differential success of various coral species after bleaching. The following species were examined: branching corals including Montipora...

Coral Reef Resilience and Resistance to Bleaching

Coral Reef Resilience and Resistance to Bleaching

A comprehensive overview and synthesis of coral bleaching and potential effects of climate change, discussions regarding the meaning of resistance and resilience, and future research opportunities...

Coral Reef Recovery Dynamics in a Changing World

Coral Reef Recovery Dynamics in a Changing World

The authors quantitatively reviewed the literature (55 studies in total) on the recovery rates of coral reef ecosystems from acute disturbance events among 48 different...

Most Corals May Not Change Their Symbionts

Most Corals May Not Change Their Symbionts

This paper tests the hypothesis that corals can adapt to climate change by exchanging algal types. Data from 43 studies including 442 coral species (stony coral...

Long-term Effects of the 1998 Coral Bleaching Event on Reef Fish Assemblages

Long-term Effects of the 1998 Coral Bleaching Event on Reef Fish Assemblages

This paper examined the effects of the 1998 coral bleaching event on fish assemblages by measuring fish abundance, taxonomic richness, and functional group abundances (i.e. obligate...

Hurricanes and Caribbean Coral Reefs: Impacts, Recovery Patterns, and Role in Long-term Decline

Hurricanes and Caribbean Coral Reefs: Impacts, Recovery Patterns, and Role in Long-term Decline

This paper is arguably the first quantitative evaluation of short and longer term responses to hurricanes throughout the Caribbean. The authors conducted meta-analyses that include 67...

Effects of Habitat, Wave Exposure, and Marine Protected Area Status on Coral Reef Fish Assemblages in the Hawaiian Archipelago

Effects of Habitat, Wave Exposure, and Marine Protected Area Status on Coral Reef Fish Assemblages in the Hawaiian Archipelago

This study installed and surveyed 30 permanent sites replicated at two depths off Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Kahoolawe, and Hawaii. These sites varied in numerous ways...

Global Assessment of Coral Bleaching and Required Rates of Adaptation Under Climate Change

Global Assessment of Coral Bleaching and Required Rates of Adaptation Under Climate Change

The authors of this paper conducted a global assessment of coral bleaching by adapting the NOAA Coral Reef Watch bleaching predation method. The results of...

High CO2 Enhances the Competitive Strength of Seaweeds Over Corals

High CO2 Enhances the Competitive Strength of Seaweeds Over Corals

This study presents the case that increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2 may be an additional process driving a shift from corals to seaweeds on reefs....

Community Structure of Corals and Reef Fishes at Multiple Scales

Community Structure of Corals and Reef Fishes at Multiple Scales

Community structure in scleractinan corals and labrid reef fish are assessed in the Central Indo-Pacific Ocean by examining 100 sites along a 10,000 km transect....

Assessing the Effects of Marine Protected Area (MPA) on a Reef Fish Assemblage in a Northwestern Mediterranean Marine Reserve

Assessing the Effects of Marine Protected Area (MPA) on a Reef Fish Assemblage in a Northwestern Mediterranean Marine Reserve

Claudet et al. evaluate how reef fish assemblages respond to a no-take reserve as compared to a non-managed site, accounting for habitat variability. This paper...

Evaluating Social and Ecological Vulnerability of Coral Reef Fisheries to Climate Change

Evaluating Social and Ecological Vulnerability of Coral Reef Fisheries to Climate Change

The social-ecological vulnerability of coral reef dependent communities to climate change impacts were examined based on different marine governance systems (government run no-take marine reserves,...

Vulnerability of Coastal Communities to Key Impacts of Climate Change on Coral Reef Fisheries

Vulnerability of Coastal Communities to Key Impacts of Climate Change on Coral Reef Fisheries

This study addresses the lack of current scientific work focusing on the social vulnerability of fisheries-dependent communities in the context of climate change-related impacts to...

Spatial Variation in the Functional Characteristics of Herbivorous Fish Communities and the Resilience of Coral Reefs

Spatial Variation in the Functional Characteristics of Herbivorous Fish Communities and the Resilience of Coral Reefs

This study explores the importance of herbivore functional roles and their diversity and abundance when predicting coral reef resilience to undesirable phase-shifts to algal-dominated reefs. Authors...

A Simple Approximation for Larval Retention Around Reefs

A Simple Approximation for Larval Retention Around Reefs

Estimating larval retention at individual reefs by local scale three-dimensional flows is a concern for managers trying to understand and predict larval dispersal. This study...

Interactions Between Herbivorous Fish Guilds and Their Influence on Algal Succession on a Coastal Coral Reef

Interactions Between Herbivorous Fish Guilds and Their Influence on Algal Succession on a Coastal Coral Reef

In this study, the effects of different herbivore groups (roving herbivores, such as parrotfishes, surgeonfishes and rabbitfishes =”foragers” and territorial damselfish = “farmers”) were isolated...

Does Herbivorous Fish Protection Really Improve Coral Reef Resilience? A Case Study from New Caledonia (South Pacific)

Does Herbivorous Fish Protection Really Improve Coral Reef Resilience? A Case Study from New Caledonia (South Pacific)

The authors assessed populations of herbivorous fish in 14 reefs around New Caledonia and found that the current low fishing pressure doesn’t affect the population...

Impact of Herbivore Identity on Algal Succession and Coral Growth on a Caribbean Reef

Impact of Herbivore Identity on Algal Succession and Coral Growth on a Caribbean Reef

This study conducted two experiments over two years to evaluate how herbivore identity and species richness affected the recruitment and primary succession of algal communities...

Principles for the Design of Marine Reserves

Principles for the Design of Marine Reserves

Useful to marine reserve designers, this paper by Botsford et al. describes four principles that address the following two questions: (1) how will the outcome...

Coral Bleaching, Reef Fish Community Phase Shifts and the Resilience of Coral Reefs

Coral Bleaching, Reef Fish Community Phase Shifts and the Resilience of Coral Reefs

The 1998 coral bleaching event, the largest coral reef disturbance on historic record, caused dramatic habitat loss. Annual censuses that spanned both before and after...

A Framework for Responding to Coral Disease Outbreaks that Facilitates Adaptive Management

A Framework for Responding to Coral Disease Outbreaks that Facilitates Adaptive Management

In this study, investigators develop and present a framework for responding to coral disease outbreaks with implications for reef ecosystem health. The framework contains four...

Genomic Basis for Coral Resilience to Climate Change

Genomic Basis for Coral Resilience to Climate Change

This research study seeks to explain coral resilience to heat stress by looking at differences in genes that are expressed in heat tolerant (resilient) versus...

Settling into an Increasingly Hostile World: The Rapidly Closing ‘‘Recruitment Window’’ for Corals

Settling into an Increasingly Hostile World: The Rapidly Closing ‘‘Recruitment Window’’ for Corals

In this study, researchers examined the effect of benthic organisms on coral recruitment and early post-settlement survivorship on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef over three years....

Repeated Bleaching Events May Result in High Tolerance and Notable Gametogenesis in Stony Corals: Oculina Patagonica as a Model

Repeated Bleaching Events May Result in High Tolerance and Notable Gametogenesis in Stony Corals: Oculina Patagonica as a Model

In this study, the authors assessed the effect of bleaching on gametogenesis of populations of the coral Oculina patagonica commonly undergoing repeated seasonal bleaching events...

Ocean Acidification and Warming will Lower Coral Reef Resilience

Ocean Acidification and Warming will Lower Coral Reef Resilience

In this study, the authors quantitatively analyzed how different combinations of CO2 and fishing pressure on herbivores will affect the ecological resilience of a benthic...

Herbivory, Connectivity, and Ecosystem Resilience: Response of a Coral Reef to a Large-Scale Perturbation

Herbivory, Connectivity, and Ecosystem Resilience: Response of a Coral Reef to a Large-Scale Perturbation

The purpose of this study was to identify processes that inhibit the shift from coral to algal dominance in some coral reefs following major disturbances....

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