Abstract: Rapid ocean warming due to climate change poses a serious risk to the survival of coral reefs. It is estimated that 70–90 percent of all reefs will be severely degraded by mid-century even if the 1.5◦C goal of the Paris Climate Agreement is achieved. However, one coral reef...
Abstract: Tourist growth in Quintana Roo, Mexico has brought with it an increase of pollution by sunscreens to aquatic ecosystems, which represents an environmental risk because of the chemical components of sunscreens that can negatively affect human health and aquatic ecosystems. However, the magnitude of pollution in aquatic environments...
Abstract: The unprecedented global heatwave of 2014–2017 was a defining event for many ecosystems. Widespread degradation caused by coral bleaching, for example, highlighted the vulnerability of hundreds of millions of people dependent on reefs for their livelihoods, well-being, and food security. Scientists and policy makers are now reassessing long-held...
Executive Summary: 1. This report presents data from coral reef surveys conducted in Malaysia during 2020 using the Reef Check survey protocol. Reef Check is a coral reef monitoring methodology used to assess the health of coral reefs in over 95 countries and territories worldwide, and in Malaysia since...
Abstract: Following a series of mass-bleaching events that have seriously degraded coral reefs, notably the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, a common narrative is now dominating the discourse, according to which “the only sure way to save the world’s coral reefs is climate change mitigation”. However, climate change is...
Abstract: Fertilization is a critical life history event and important to population dynamics. Successful fertilization relies on encounters of compatible and viable sperm and eggs. Scleractinian corals that spawn their gametes directly into the water column may experience limitations from sperm dilution and delays in initial sperm-egg encounters that...
Abstract: Coral reefs worldwide are increasingly damaged by anthropogenic stressors, necessitating novel approaches for their management. Maintaining healthy fish communities counteracts reef degradation, but degraded reefs smell and sound less attractive to settlement-stage fishes than their healthy states. Here, using a six-week field experiment, we demonstrate that playback of...
Abstract: Background: Coral reefs face unprecedented declines in diversity and cover, a development largely attributed to climate change-induced bleaching and subsequent disease outbreaks. Coral-associated microbiomes may strongly influence the fitness of their hosts and alter heat tolerance and disease susceptibility of coral colonies. Here, we describe a new coral...
Abstract: Coral reefs are under increasing stress from local and global factors. Long-term perspectives are becoming increasingly important for understanding ecosystem responses. Here, we provide insights from a 91-year study of the Low Isles on the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) that begins with the pioneering Great Barrier Reef...
Abstract: The global decline of coral reefs heightens the need to understand how corals respond to changing environmental conditions. Corals are metaorganisms, so-called holobionts, and restructuring of the associated bacterial community has been suggested as a means of holobiont adaptation. However, the potential for restructuring of bacterial communities across...
