Recurrent disturbances can have a critical effect on the structure and function of coral reef communities. In this study, long-term changes were examined in the hard coral community at Wanlitung, in southern Taiwan, between 1985 and 2010. In this 26 year interval, the reef has experienced repeated disturbances that include six typhoons and two coral-bleaching events. The frequency of disturbanc...

Coral reef ecosystems are based on coral-zooxanthellae symbiosis. During the initiation of symbiosis, majority of corals acquire their own zooxanthellae (specifically from the dinoflagellate genus Symbiodinium) from surrounding environments. The mechanisms underlying the initial establishment of symbiosis have attracted much interest, and numerous field and laboratory experiments have been cond...

Ocean acidification represents a key threat to coral reefs by reducing the calcification rate of framework builders. In addition, acidification is likely to affect the relationship between corals and their symbiotic dinoflagellates and the productivity of this association. However, little is known about how acidification impacts on the physiology of reef builders and how acidification interacts...

The study reports massive and dense Blue coral Heliopora coerulea (Pallas, 1766) population in Chetlat atoll, one of the northernmost atolls Lakshadweep Archipelago. Globally, there are only a few instances occurrence such blue populations, mostly from Japan. Underwater survey shows that about 60 % entire reef area is occupied by coral. In addition, this atoll was observed to have lesser cover ...

During the summer of 2005, an unprecedented sequence of four hurricanes impacted the reefs of the Florida Keys. Damage patterns to coral reefs are commonly influenced by the strength, path, and duration of each storm event (Harmelin-Vivien 1994; Lirman & Fong 1997; Lirman 2000). In the case of sequential storms, damage patterns can be also determined by storm frequency and prior disturbance his...

The impact of physico-chemical factors on percent coral cover and coral health was examined on a spatial basis for two dominant Acropora species, A. digitifera and A. spicifera, at Ningaloo Reef (north-western Australia) in the southeast Indian Ocean. Coral health was investigated by measuring metabolic indices (RNA/DNA ratio and protein concentration), energy levels (lipid ratio) and autotroph...

The environmental processes that prevent reef framework development in areas with a diverse and dense cover of coral were investigated in the southern Arabian Gulf (Dubai, UAE), the southwestern Indian Ocean (South Africa) and the central Caribbean (Cayman Islands, BWI). In Dubai, temperature anomalies predicted to recur every 10-15 yr cause repeated mass mortalities of Acropora spp., the domin...

The scleractinian coral Acropora millepora is one of the most studied species from the Great Barrier Reef. This species has been used to understand evolutionary, immune and developmental processes in cnidarians. It has also been subject of several ecological studies in order to elucidate reef responses to environmental changes such as temperature rise and ocean acidification (OA). In these cont...