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.
QUT researchers have advanced the understanding of how to create tiny seawater droplets to form mist plumes that reflect sunlight to protect coral reefs.
Ecology
Aug 27, 2025
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17
A new Arizona State University study reveals the extent to which sewage pollution threatens the fragile coral reef ecosystems of west Hawaiʻi Island.
Environment
Aug 26, 2025
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77
Beneath a cloak of darkness, illuminated only by glow sticks and red-filtered flashlights, researchers waited underwater off Key Largo hoping to witness one of the rarest events of sex in the sea.
Plants & Animals
Aug 18, 2025
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101
In San Francisco Bay, salt ponds created more than a century ago are reverting to marshland. Along the New York and New Jersey coasts, beaches ravaged by Superstorm Sandy underwent extensive restoration. In Alabama, a rebuilt ...
Environment
Aug 17, 2025
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75
An international study by marine scientists based in Singapore has revealed that sea-level rise in the Indian Ocean began accelerating far earlier than previously thought, with corals providing an unbroken natural record ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 12, 2025
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51
An international team of scientists working with Queensland Museum's CoralBank have made groundbreaking findings that rewrite the family tree of one of the world's most iconic coral groups and described five new-to-science ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 12, 2025
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27
Sea cucumbers (Apostichopus japonicus) have been slowly disappearing from ocean floors over the last few decades, mostly due to overfishing for food and medicinal purposes. Despite their name, sea cucumbers are aquatic animals ...
A new scientific paper reveals that many predictions about the future of coral reefs under climate change may be missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.
Ecology
Aug 11, 2025
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16
The Great Barrier Reef has experienced its greatest annual loss of live coral across most of its expanse in four decades of record-keeping, Australian authorities say.
Ecology
Aug 9, 2025
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151
The population of one species of coral in the main island of the Alcatrazes Archipelago Wildlife Refuge (REVIS), located off the southern coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, retains about 20 tons of carbon per year. ...
Environment
Aug 5, 2025
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20
