Corals are fundamental ecosystem engineers, creating large, intricate reefs that support
diverse and abundant marine life. At the core of a healthy coral animal is a dynamic …

Corals are animals that form close mutualistic associations with endosymbiotic
photosynthetic algae of the genus Symbiodinium. Together they provide the calcium …

The microbial contribution to ecological resilience is still largely overlooked in coral reef
ecology. Coral-associated bacteria serve a wide variety of functional roles with reference to …

Losses of corals worldwide emphasize the need to understand what drives reef decline.
Stressors such as overfishing and nutrient pollution may reduce resilience of coral reefs by …

Trophic cascades—the top-down regulation of ecosystems by predators—are an essential
aspect of ecosystem function and well-being. Trophic cascades are often drastically …

Coral microbiology is an emerging field, driven largely by a desire to understand, and
ultimately prevent, the worldwide destruction of coral reefs. The mucus layer, skeleton and …

Ocean warming has severe impacts on coral reef ecosystems with frequent incidences of
coral bleaching. In addition, eutrophication poses an increasing threat to coral reef …

In the last two decades, genetic and genomic studies have revealed the astonishing
diversity and ubiquity of microorganisms. Emergence and expansion of the human …

The coral holobiont is the community of metazoans, protists and microbes associated with
scleractinian corals. Disruptions in these associations have been correlated with coral …

Severe marine heatwaves have recently become a common feature of global ocean
conditions due to a rapidly changing climate [1, 2]. These increasingly severe thermal …