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1. Extending the natural adaptive capacity of coral holobionts

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00214-3  

   Voolstra, Christian R. ; Suggett, David J. ; Peixoto, Raquel S. ; Parkinson, John E. ; Quigley, Kate M. ; Silveira, Cynthia B. ; Sweet, Michael ; Muller, Erinn M. ; Barshis, Daniel J. ; Bourne, David G. ; et al ( October 2021 , Nature Reviews Earth & Environment)

   null (Ed.)

   Anthropogenic climate change and environmental degradation destroy coral reefs, the ecosystem services they provide, and the livelihoods of close to a billion people who depend on these services. Restoration approaches to increase the resilience of corals are therefore necessary to counter environmental pressures relevant to climate change projections. In this Review, we examine the natural processes that can increase the adaptive capacity of coral holobionts, with the aim of preserving ecosystem functioning under future ocean conditions. Current approaches that centre around restoring reef cover can be integrated with emerging approaches to enhance coral stress resilience and, thereby, allow reefs to regrow under a new set of environmental conditions. Emerging approaches such as standardized acute thermal stress assays, selective sexual propagation, coral probiotics, and environmental hardening could be feasible and scalable in the real world. However, they must follow decision-making criteria that consider the different reef, environmental, and ecological conditions. The implementation of adaptive interventions tailored around nature-based solutions will require standardized frameworks, appropriate ecological risk–benefit assessments, and analytical routines for consistent and effective utilization and global coordination. 

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2. Shifting paradigms in restoration of the world's coral reefs

   https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13647  

   van Oppen, Madeleine J. H. ; Gates, Ruth D. ; Blackall, Linda L. ; Cantin, Neal ; Chakravarti, Leela J. ; Chan, Wing Y. ; Cormick, Craig ; Crean, Angela ; Damjanovic, Katarina ; Epstein, Hannah ; et al ( March 2017 , Global Change Biology)

   Many ecosystems around the world are rapidly deteriorating due to both local and global pressures, and perhaps none so precipitously as coral reefs. Management of coral reefs through maintenance (e.g., marine‐protected areas, catchment management to improve water quality), restoration, as well as global and national governmental agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (e.g., the 2015 Paris Agreement) is critical for the persistence of coral reefs. Despite these initiatives, the health and abundance of corals reefs are rapidly declining and other solutions will soon be required. We have recently discussed options for using assisted evolution (i.e., selective breeding, assisted gene flow, conditioning or epigenetic programming, and the manipulation of the coral microbiome) as a means to enhance environmental stress tolerance of corals and the success of coral reef restoration efforts. The 2014–2016 global coral bleaching event has sharpened the focus on such interventionist approaches. We highlight the necessity for consideration of alternative (e.g., hybrid) ecosystem states, discuss traits of resilient corals and coral reef ecosystems, and propose a decision tree for incorporating assisted evolution into restoration initiatives to enhance climate resilience of coral reefs.

    

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3. Coral Disease: Direct and Indirect Agents, Mechanisms of Disease, and Innovations for Increasing Resistance and Resilience

   https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-011123-102337  

   Vega_Thurber, Rebecca L ; Silva, Denise ; Speare, Lauren ; Croquer, Aldo ; Veglia, Alex J ; Alvarez-Filip, Lorenzo ; Zaneveld, Jesse R ; Muller, Erinn M ; Correa, Adrienne MS ( September 2024 , Annual Review of Marine Science)

   As climate change drives health declines of tropical reef species, diseases are further eroding ecosystem function and habitat resilience. Coral disease impacts many areas around the world, removing some foundation species to recorded low levels and thwarting worldwide efforts to restore reefs. What we know about coral disease processes remains insufficient to overcome many current challenges in reef conservation, yet cumulative research and management practices are revealing new disease agents (including bacteria, viruses, and eukaryotes), genetic host disease resistance factors, and innovative methods to prevent and mitigate epizootic events (probiotics, antibiotics, and disease resistance breeding programs). The recent outbreak of stony coral tissue loss disease across the Caribbean has reenergized and mobilized the research community to think bigger and do more. This review therefore focuses largely on novel emerging insights into the causes and mechanisms of coral disease and their applications to coral restoration and conservation.

    

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4. Coral‐bleaching responses to climate change across biological scales

   https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16192  

   van Woesik, Robert ; Shlesinger, Tom ; Grottoli, Andréa G. ; Toonen, Rob J. ; Vega Thurber, Rebecca ; Warner, Mark E. ; Marie Hulver, Ann ; Chapron, Leila ; McLachlan, Rowan H. ; Albright, Rebecca ; et al ( April 2022 , Global Change Biology)

   The global impacts of climate change are evident in every marine ecosystem. On coral reefs, mass coral bleaching and mortality have emerged as ubiquitous responses to ocean warming, yet one of the greatest challenges of this epiphenomenon is linking information across scientific disciplines and spatial and temporal scales. Here we review some of the seminal and recent coral‐bleaching discoveries from an ecological, physiological, and molecular perspective. We also evaluate which data and processes can improve predictive models and provide a conceptual framework that integrates measurements across biological scales. Taking an integrative approach across biological and spatial scales, using for example hierarchical models to estimate major coral‐reef processes, will not only rapidly advance coral‐reef science but will also provide necessary information to guide decision‐making and conservation efforts. To conserve reefs, we encourage implementing mesoscale sanctuaries (thousands of km²) that transcend national boundaries. Such networks of protected reefs will provide reef connectivity, through larval dispersal that transverse thermal environments, and genotypic repositories that may become essential units of selection for environmentally diverse locations. Together, multinational networks may be the best chance corals have to persist through climate change, while humanity struggles to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to net zero.

    

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5. A global database on coral recovery following marine heatwaves

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03221-3  

   van Woesik, Robert ; Kratochwill, Chelsey ( April 2024 , Scientific Data)

   Coral reefs support the world’s most diverse marine ecosystem and provide invaluable goods and services for millions of people worldwide. They are however experiencing frequent and intensive marine heatwaves that are causing coral bleaching and mortality. Coarse-grained climate models predict that few coral reefs will survive the 3 °C sea-surface temperature rise in the coming century. Yet, field studies show localized pockets of coral survival and recovery even under high-temperature conditions. Quantifying recovery from marine heatwaves is central to making accurate predictions of coral-reef trajectories into the near future. Here we introduce the world’s most comprehensive database on coral recovery following marine heatwaves and other disturbances, called Heatwaves and Coral-Recovery Database (HeatCRD) encompassing 29,205 data records spanning 44 years from 12,266 sites, 83 countries, and 160 data sources. These data provide essential information to coral-reef scientists and managers to best guide coral-reef conservation efforts at both local and regional scales.

    

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