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.
New research published in Science Advances reveals that the largest expansion of coral reefs in the past 100 million years happened about 20 to 10 million years ago, between Australia and Southeast Asia.
Plants & Animals
Apr 30, 2026
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Why are there so many species of coral reef fish? According to a new study, it's because about 50 million years ago, some fish figured out how to bite food from hard surfaces.
Plants & Animals
Apr 28, 2026
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Every time you go for a swim, some of your sunscreen gets left behind. An estimated 25% of applied sunscreen washes off during recreational water activities, releasing some 5,000 tons annually in reef areas alone, according ...
Ecology
Apr 28, 2026
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Palmyra Atoll, a remote, uninhabited speck of land, coral and sea halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa, is one of the healthiest, intact atolls on the planet—so ecologically sensitive that visiting researchers freeze ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 28, 2026
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Lord Howe Island lies in the middle of the ocean, about 700 kilometers northeast of Sydney. It's covered in lush forest and fringed by the world's most southerly coral reef ecosystem.
Plants & Animals
Apr 22, 2026
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As coral reefs struggle to survive in warming oceans, scientists across the world are scrambling to find ways to help these vital ocean ecosystems. An interdisciplinary team at the University of Miami has discovered a new ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 20, 2026
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An invasive algae already well-established in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is raising concern among researchers as it threatens to spread into the main Hawaiian Islands. Scientists from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 20, 2026
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Restoring once abundant oyster reefs in temperate marginal seas such as the North Sea is a challenging task. New research by NIOZ marine ecologist Zhiyuan Zhao and colleagues shows that it is necessary to consider the short-term ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 17, 2026
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A new tool to help scientists and reef managers consider the ecological risks of different coral reef interventions around the world has been developed by researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). ...
Ecology
Apr 16, 2026
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Coral reefs hide "scientific treasures" that have survived for centuries, yet many of these giant, ancient organisms remain largely unknown to science. A new study published in the journal Nature Conservation introduces "Map ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 15, 2026
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