Reef ecosystems are complex, three-dimensional marine habitats, typically structured by biogenic reef-builders such as scleractinian corals, coralline algae, or oysters, that support highly diverse, spatially structured communities of microorganisms, algae, invertebrates, and vertebrates. They are characterized by strong environmental gradients (light, nutrients, hydrodynamics), tight biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, and intricate trophic networks linking primary producers, detritivores, and higher consumers. Research on reef ecosystems focuses on processes such as calcification, bioerosion, symbiosis (e.g., coral–Symbiodiniaceae associations), connectivity among reef patches, and responses to stressors including warming, acidification, eutrophication, and overfishing, with implications for ecosystem resilience and regime shifts.
Ecosystems are characterized by interconnected structure and functions. A study published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Casey Benkwitt at Lancaster University, United Kingdom and colleagues suggests that restoring ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 8, 2025
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A team of scientists from the University of Miami, the Florida Aquarium and Tela Marine in Honduras is working together to transplant crossbred coral fragments onto a reef off Miami's coastline that was devastated by coral ...
Ecology
Jul 4, 2025
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New research has revealed alarming coral mortality rates of 92% after last year's bleaching event at Lizard Island on Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, marking one of the highest coral mortality rates ever documented globally.
Plants & Animals
Jul 4, 2025
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University of Leicester-led research has revealed the start of industrial deforestation of the Malaysian rainforest and its long-lasting impact on coastal ecosystems in the skeletons of corals.
Earth Sciences
Jul 3, 2025
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The intricate, hidden processes that sustain coral life are being revealed through a new microscope developed by scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Ecology
Jul 3, 2025
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85
Shellfish beds or reefs, formed by mussels and oysters, have declined worldwide. Sterre Witte, who conducted her Ph.D. research at the NIOZ Coastal Systems department, has investigated how we can counteract this decline.
Plants & Animals
Jul 2, 2025
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470
Understanding how far Great Barrier Reef corals are from their parents could be key to identifying and protecting at-risk populations, University of Queensland research has found.
Plants & Animals
Jul 2, 2025
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31
A study of 7000-year-old exposed coral reef fossils reveals how human fishing has transformed Caribbean reef food webs: as sharks declined by 75% and fish preferred by humans became smaller, prey fish species flourished—doubling ...
Ecology
Jul 1, 2025
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59
Restoring underwater kelp forests by culling overgrazing sea urchins would deliver significant financial benefits, a new study has found.
Ecology
Jul 1, 2025
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20
Groundwater input to coral reefs directly affects water chemistry and triggers a cascade of changes in the coastal ecosystem, according to a new study led by University of Hawaiʻi (UH) at Mānoa oceanographers. Freshwater ...
Ecology
Jun 27, 2025
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