Physiological limitations on regulating internal chemistry restricts corals’ ability to deal with ocean acidification and warming, thereby reducing resilience to continued environmental change.
coral reefs
Posted inENGAGE, News
Degraded Coral Reefs May Be More Resistant to Climate Change
New research on Kiribati’s beleaguered atolls paints a complex picture of reef recovery.
Posted inNews
Sea Cucumbers: The Excremental Heroes of Coral Reef Ecosystems
Drone surveillance reveals just how big a contribution sea cucumbers make to reef habitats.
Posted inNews
Rethinking Darwin’s Theory of Atoll Formation
Atolls have a long and complex history related to seafloor evolution, and Darwin’s model is only the beginning of the story.
Posted inNews
Climate Change May Shift Coral Population Dynamics
New paleoceanographic research indicates that warming waters may contribute to fewer coral reefs but to a flourishing presence of soft-bodied corals.
Posted inNews
Scientists Support Local Activities to Rescue the Mesoamerican Reef
The reef’s report card analyzed 286 sites in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. Communities, scientists, and governments are working to improve coral and ecosystem resilience.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Corals Make Reliable Recorders of El Niño Fluctuations
A new tool that reconciles modeling and paleoclimate data builds confidence that tropical Pacific corals reliably archive natural variability in the El Niño–Southern Oscillation climate pattern.
Posted inNews
A Brighter Future for Coral Reef Islands
Although some islands demonstrate more resiliency than previously thought, island communities may require significant flood-resistant infrastructure to maintain their way of life.
Posted inNews
Dead Reefs Keep Calcifying but Only by Day
A new measurement technique has revealed that turf algae communities colonizing dead reefs have a dual role, adding new mineral material to the reefs during the day and taking it away at night.
Posted inNews
A Key to Coral Bleaching Events? Location, Location, Location
New research indicates that longitude, as well as warming waters, may be a key predictor of coral bleaching events.