Significance of Coral Reefs as a Habitat for Marine Life

The current study will discuss the importance of the coral reef and the harm that is caused to the ecosystem due to the fragile environment. The coral reefs are an important part of the marine ecosystem and it is considered to be the habitat for the majority of the diversity of marine life. Due to the increased level of activity of modern humans, the corals are facing structural loss, which is believed to have significant impact on the marine ecosystem and life cycle of the fishers. It can also be said that in spite of various conservative measures, there has been huge conflict among that is caused due to increasing in the demand of the fishing activities (Pratchett et al., 2014).

Due to the current change in the global climate, the coral reefs are undergoing huge change. This is mainly due to the fact that the reefs are highly sensitive to the change of temperature in the sea surface. In the given context, the current study will critically evaluate the causes and effects of the fragile environment within the coral reef. The major biological characteristics of the coral reef will be critically analyzed that will help to explain the balanced and the dynamic nature of coral reefs.

The increased activity of modern human, the total volume of carbon emission has increased within the atmosphere. The leakage of carbon dioxide within the ecosystem of the coral reef is considered to have a devastating impact as it is believed to inhibit the process of carbonate precipitation. The dissolution of the carbonate also believed to have devastating impact on the biological activity of the coral reef (Graham et al., 2006).

Being one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, the coral reef is considered to be one of the major sources of scientific source of attention. Due to the effects of global warming, the coral reefs all across the planet expel their symbiotic partners. This results in the activity of bleaching that is believed to reduce the mortality rate of the corals. The climate change is also believed to effect the thermal sensitivity of the coral reefs that evident from the fact that the corals undergo structural changes that ultimately affect the overall ecosystems. The process of bleaching, if continued for long-term process can change the physiological conditions of the coral species (Graham et al., 2006).

In the given context, the example global mass bleaching event of 1998 can be given that took place in the western parts of the Indian Ocean. This event took place due to the interaction of the El Nino with that of the dipole currents of the Indian Ocean. This has resulted in the 70-80% loss of the coral lives in the region (Graham et al., 2006).

Impact of Human Activities on Coral Reefs

Hence, in the given context, it is important to deal with the issues of the coral reef fragility as it will help the scientists to understand the biological characters that changed due to the global warming.

Research Questions 

• What are the causes of fragile environment at the coral reefs?
• What are the effects on the marine ecosystem due to the fragile environment of coral reef?

Research Objective 

• To understand the causes of the fragile environment in the coral reef
• To understand the effects of fragile environment in coral reef

The research paper of Bellwood et al., (2011), have highlighted about the fact that the regions within the coral reef have witnessed high levels of fishing. These overfishing activities have resulted in disturbance of the overall Marine ecosystem within the regions around coral reef. The combine effects of overfishing, pollution due to human activities have resulted in the coral reef to lose their capacity to absorb the natural current of the ocean. Due to the overfishing activities, the population of certain species within the coral reef have gone down significantly. The large sized predators like the Sharks disappear at much faster rate due to overfishing activities. This is the immediate effect of overfishing activities, which are also associated with long term effects that include disruption of the ecosystem in the coral reef. From the research work of Bellwood et al., (2011), it is clear that in most of the coral reefs like in the case of great barrier reef, the overfishing activities results in concomitant changes. Further examples can be given that laws of herbivores can result in the increased activity of microalgae. This is evident from the fact that over using of the Parrotfishes, who feeds on the macro algae are responsible for maintaining the algae population within the reef.

The research paper of D’agata et al., (2014), quantitatively analyzed the effects of human activity on the taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity of the fish and marine life activity in the regions of the coral reef. The richness of marine diversity of the coral reefs of the Pacific Ocean has decreased by 11.7%. On the other hand, the phylogenetic and functional diversity decreased by 35.8% and 46.8% respectively (D’agata et al., 2014). This is believed to have a major impact on the overall fragility rates of the coral reefs.

Hence, it can be said that the biological activities of individual species in the coral reef can be used as a major indicator to measure the overall loss that is being caused due to various parts of human activities.

It is important to analyse the data of the fishery department, which can help to indicate the loss that is caused by the Marine ecosystem due to human activities. Few of the other major indicator includes depletion of marine resources and decrease in the quality of water. The activities of fishing are believed to be crucial in the context that it can help to provide the resources that are needed to deal with the food supply of the growing human population (Worm et al., 2006). This is also important to mention that local species within the regions of the coral reefs will have significant impact on the overall health condition of the patients. The increased activity of human to that of the local food habits did have a major impact that has changed the environment of the global marine ecosystem. The coral reefs are also considered to one of the local ecosystems with the global marine ecosystem that is believed to rapidly degrade due to increased levels of human activity (Worm et al., 2006).

Effects of Global Climate Change on Coral Reefs

Portillo de la and Maya (2014), have added in the context that it is important to analyze the changing properties of the ecosystems that are believed to have major impact on the biological activity. It is also important to change in the traits of the marine coral fishes and other life-forms that is also caused due to the changes in the marine ecosystems. Due to the loss of the ecosystem, the genetic diversity within the local ecosystem gets affected that can have long-terms effects. This is believed to have major impact on the mutual evolution process. It is essential for the scientists to understand the impact of the food web circles. The polices of conservative management practices, therefore, needs to be implemented that can minimize the adverse effects associated with that of the coral reef destruction.  

Nagelkerken and Connell (2015), have mentioned about the fact that with elevated level of sea temperature, the production rate within the phytoplankton will be decreased. This mainly occurs due to the acidification that is caused due to the increases in the level of carbon dioxide levels. As the production rate of the phytoplankton decreases, the metabolism of the coral reefs is affected severely. There are also various other species that includes marine invertebrates that are affected due to the acidification of the sea water. It can also be said that due to the increased levels of acidification and sea level temperature the calcification level within the coral’s increases. This change within the ecosystems of the coral reefs can decrease the levels of marine diversity.

The research paper of Mora et al., (2016), have mentioned about the fact that 19% of the overall coral reefs all around the globe has already been destroyed. Other major part coral reefs are that is about 70 to 80% of the coral reefs are also under the direct impact of the human activity. Hence, due to this heavy impact, the coral reefs are also often considered to be fragile. It is also important to highlight upon the fact that throughout a longer period of the history, the coral reefs have thrived in the same type of environmental conditions and thereby have not been able to inherit the properties of changes that are needed to deal with the new forms of environmental conditions. On the other hand, Selgrath et al., (2017), have mentioned about few of the coral species that is believed to have the capability to tolerate wide range of temperature of pH changes.This property, however, has been inherited due to the variation within the geographical location of the coral reefs. It is also important to mention that coral species that have the capability to adopt to the climatic changes have slow process of growth and sexual maturity. This is also considered to be one of the major challenges as the reefs are not able to replenish the population that are being destroyed due to increased human activities. The research work of Phinn et al., (2017), have also highlighted about the poor adaptability measures that are considered to be the major causes of fragility of the coral eco systems.

Examples of Coral Reef Destruction

The Benthic community of organism has a major impact on the overall ecosystems of the coral reefs. They are a group of organisms that are found in the regions near the ocean floor. These groups of the organism generally include worms, clams, crabs, sponges and lobster and many other forms of microscopic organisms that reside on the sea floor (Roberts et al.,2015).

These group of species play an important part in developing up on the ecosystem around the coral reef region. Additionally, the research paper of Dernie et al., (2003), have highlighted up on the fact that the recovery rate of benthic communities is relatively slow. Hence, they are not able to deal with the physical disturbances that are caused due to the change in physical environment of the coral reefs. One of the major challenge in this context is due to the fact that has most of the species lie within the sea bed, it is not possible to properly analyses the biological change that occurs within the community. Hence, most of the changes that occur within the community remain undetectable to the scientific community. There is also the case of clear and communities, which relatively has a rapid rate of recovery. On the other hand, the seabeds having mud surface are believed to have the slowest rate of recovery. Disturbance in the rate of fishing can help to detect the changes that occur on the sea bed floor.  

The recovery rate win in a community is dependent upon physical and biological environment that is also combined with the chemical processes. The relative change in the environment can occur due to minor issues within the region of coral reef ecosystem. It is highly essential to monitor the changes and physical disturbances that occur within the seabed floor acid can help to predict the future changes that are expected within the ecosystem of the coral reefs.

It is also one of the challenging task of the scientific community to detect the structural change within the benthic community. Hence, it can be said that the changes within the coral reef system cannot be only detected with the change in the benthic community.

As mentioned in the research paper of Bozec et al., (2015), the coral reef ecosystem has a complex structure, which is caused due to the high level of diversity of flora and fauna. One of the major cause of fragility in the environment of coral reef is due to architectural complexity that is involved in the structure formation of the reefs. It is highly essential for the scientific community to understand the complex dynamics of the coral reef that is caused due to climate change. It is also essential to understand the topography of the coral reef, which is essential in understanding the overall taxonomy that is involved in the climatic conditions. It is also important to mention the fact that most of the species within the Coral reefs have simplified shape and structure, which allows the community to develop properly. This can also help to ensure that all the Marine life forms, who are dependent upon the coral reefs are able to type properly. From the research paper of Alvarez Filip (2010), recent declines in the region of coral reef in the Caribbean region is highly evident from the complexity of the structure. The flattening of the reefs near the regions of Caribbean coast is regarded as one of the major indicators of reef destruction.

Monitoring the Health of Coral Reef Ecosystems

Changes in the physical and biological structure of the corals are believed to have a major significant impact on the environment. The complex Habitat in the region around coral reef is believed to act as an environmental stressor. The calcium carbonate structure of the coral reef forms is stony structure, which is generally found in the shallow tropical water. These reefs are highly vulnerable to change in temperature and ph. Both forms of local and global stressors are believed to have a major impact on the changes that occur within the coral reef. The stresses are mainly induced due to various forms of human activities. The Reef building process is also under which threat as most of the species within the coral reefs is not able to reproduce within the existing environment of the Global ocean. The architectural structure of the Reef is believed to have a major impact on the overall growth rate and recovery. It is important for the scientist to properly analyses the architectural environment of each species. It is also essential to analyses the exact time of recovery for corals in each region and also the various factors that are associated with the same.

The research paper of Alvarez Filip (2010), have also highlighted up on the fact that due to the complexity in the architectural structure of coral reef, it is highly challenging for the scientist to understand the behavior and relationship of the coral reefs between the live components and the overall Coral structure. With the higher rate of destruction of coral reef, the complexity that is involved in the overall architectural structure also decreases thereby causing a huge impact upon the other form of biological species that are involved within the ecosystem.

The coral reefs are considered to be one of the most heterogeneous fragile ecosystem. This is one of the major sources of concerns for the environmentalists. The research paper of Mumby, and Steneck (2008) have highlighted about the fact that recent exploration of related to that of seeds of in the coral can help in the case of rapid conservation management techniques. Hence, in the current scenario, it is essential for the scientists to collect more information related to the birth cycle of the coral reefs. The activity of the coral reefs related to that of the bleaching can cause maximum amount of damage. Hence, it is essential to control the bleaching activities that can help in the matters of conservation management.  

Role of Benthic Community in Coral Reef Ecosystems

There are also the techniques of reef fishery management that are needed to implement the sustainable management practices. In the general cases, most of the fishing activities near the reefs are done without considering the facts of habitat destruction. Hence, it is important to implement proper restriction within the fishing activities that will help to ensure that no single fish species within the reefs are being disturbed.

The literature review section has clearly discussed the fragility of the coral reef ecosystem, which is mainly caused due to the increase in human activities. Most of the species within the coral reef are not being able to respond properly to the changes in the physical and biological environment of the oceans.

The existing literature has very clearly mentioned about the major impact that will occur in the Marine ecosystem due to the destruction of coral reef. It has also clearly highlighted that the causes of the destruction are mainly due to increase amount of human activities including fishing and global warming. The major gap in the existing literature is due to the fact that it has not provided proper strategies that need to be implemented for adapting conservation management techniques for the coral reefs. As the reefs are destroying at Rapid rate it is highly essential for the scientific community to adapt quick intervention measures. 

The research methodology consists of the different aspects used by the researcher for conducting the study. The chapter focuses on methods and strategies that are used by the researcher in completing the research. The requisite data and information will be collected from a varied number of sources which have been discussed in the chapter. The different issues related to accessing the correct information as well as the ethical issues will also be highlighted in the chapter.

The research onion helps in understanding the different aspects of conducting a research study. The model can be divided into three basic components – ontology, axiology and epistemology. The realistic component of nature is explained with the help of the philosophy of ontology. It helps in understanding the perception and general understanding of people. Epistemology helps in finding the reality behind facts and data. Axiology theory emphasizes opinions and values which are used in analysis of the data.

Research philosophy deals with the manner in which information is collected from different sources. There are three different types of research philosophies such as positivism, realism and interpretivism.  Positivism emphasises that only factual knowledge gained through measurement and observations are trustworthy. However as argued by Kuipers (2013), in positivism the role of the researcher is restricted to the collection of data and interpretation through objective approach.  Here, the objectives of the research are quantifiable and observable. Realism rests upon the idea of independence of reality from the human mind. It can be further divided into direct realism and critical realism. The philosophy is based upon assumption of a scientific approach for the development of the knowledge (Knobe & Nichols, 2013). The interpretivism deals with the subjective manner of the findings and data. It takes into consideration the external factors including the behaviour of people.

For the current study secondary method of data analysis will be followed which are based upon the review of wide variety of journals and articles. Therefore, a positivism research philosophy will be taken into consideration over here, which helps in focussing on the factual knowledge. The positivist research philosophy is based on facts only and considers the world to be external. The positivist philosophy undertaken will correlate well with the views of the researcher. Positivism emphasizes that science is the only way to learn (Kuipers, 2013).

The approach of the research can be divided into the following two types which are inductive and deductive. In a deductive approach, the premises of the study and the concluding factors are always true. The approach shifts from a general to specific form. The collected data are used for the evaluation of the hypothesis and propositions suggested by the researcher in lieu of the existent theory.  Within the inductive approach, theories and models are used for the purpose of data collection. The approach shifts from specific to general. It helps the researcher in conducting the study from a wider perspective. As commented by Sekaran & Bougie (2016), positivist study employs a deductive approach.

For the current research, a deductive approach will be followed which helps in developing a hypothesis based on existing theories. It is concerned with deducting conclusions from the propositions of the theory. The deductions will be further tested against observations. The deductive approach undertaken by the researcher will help in exploring the known theory and testing it against given circumstances.

There exist three types of research designs such as descriptive, exploratory and explanatory. The explanatory research design explains the psychological factors governing the research study. It does not take into consideration the positive and negative impacts of the research (Creswell & Poth, 2017). It merely explores the research questions and fails to offer a conclusion to the prevalent problem situation. The descriptive research design can be characterised as an attempt to describe, identify and determine “what it is?”. As commented by Yin (2013), the descriptive research design is based upon shedding light upon the current problem situation through process of data collection that helps in describing the situation. The explanatory research design is used to identify the extent and the nature of cause and effect relationships (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).

In the current study, the researcher will be using a descriptive research design as it will help the researcher to observe the phenomenon in an unchanged or natural environment. It will help the researcher in satisfying the objectives and the goals at the end of the research. A descriptive research design will help the researcher in arriving at the end result through case study analysis.

The strategy of the research can be divided into the following types such as – surveys, interviews, case study analysis and experiments. In the current research, the researcher will be following a secondary research design which will be based on case study analysis. Therefore, various published articles and journals tamper for data collection.

In the current study, secondary sources will be tapped by the researcher for the collection of data such as books, journals, online databases. Some of the marine life databases will be tapped for collection of relevant statistics representing the distribution of coral reefs in different habitat and the way they modify the ecosystem. Some of the databases which will be tapped by the researcher over here are Georef, National Register Information System and GEOBASE

For the current research secondary quantitative methods of data analysis will be used. Here, the data and information will be collected from case study analysis using online databases, books and journals. The similar themes will be further grouped which will be used for thematic analysis.

The sampling methods could be further divided into simple random and non-random probability sampling.  For the current study, the researcher will be using simple random probability sampling where each journal or article will have equal chances of being chosen from a chosen sample. It will help in removing the biases of the selection procedure (Bryman, 2015).

A number of accessibility issues will be faced by the researcher in the collection of data and conduct of the research study. As commented by Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault (2015), most of the online journals and articles are paid which restricts the accessibility. Some of the journals and articles are of old version, therefore they will not be considered by the researcher.

In order to consider the reliability and validity of the research, the researcher will adopt a number of inclusions, exclusion criteria. The researcher will only use articles published in English and which addresses the topic directly. The sources which are more than 10 years older will not be used within the evaluation.

A number of ethical considerations will be used by the researcher for deciding upon the approach of the research. The researcher will need to consider that no commercial but only academic data will be used for study design. The act of non-plagiarism will be adhered to and no results or conclusions will be tampered with.

Therefore, the research methodology will be adopted as per the secondary research design. The data will be collected through secondary quantitative analysis which will be further used in designing specific themes. The themes will be further elaborated through the next sections for arriving at specific conclusions.

Conclusion

It is also important to mention that most of the species in the coral reef are highly sensitive to changes in temperature and pH. This is believed to be one of the major cause of Rapid rate of destruction. It is also important to mention that the complexity of the architectural structure of coral reefs is believed to be one of the major cause of the Rapid destruction of reefs and also the associated species. The biological changes that occur due to variation in temperature and PH can have significant impact on all diverse marine life forms that are associated and dependent upon marine ecosystems in coral reefs.

The future research related to that of coral reef management needs to understand the changing environment ecosystem. The current research work will mainly focus on the secondary forms of data that will help to analyze clearly the changing environment that is caused due to the human intervention. The data analysis will be done on the thematic basis thereby helping the researchers to focus on particular issues related to that of coral reef fragility.

References

Alvarez Filip, L. (2010). Habitat complexity in coral reefs: patterns of degradation and consequences for biodiversity (Doctoral dissertation, University of East Anglia).

Bellwood, D. R., Hoey, A. S., & Hughes, T. P. (2011). Human activity selectively impacts the ecosystem roles of parrotfishes on coral reefs. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, rspb20111906

Bozec, Y. M., Alvarez?Filip, L., & Mumby, P. J. (2015). The dynamics of architectural complexity on coral reefs under climate change. Global change biology, 21(1), 223-235.

Bryman, A. (2015). Social research methods.London: Oxford university press, pp.125-155.

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2017). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. London:Sage publications, pp.65-92.

Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (2014). Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 35-54). Springer Netherlands, pp. 85-165.

D’agata, S., Mouillot, D., Kulbicki, M., Andréfouët, S., Bellwood, D. R., Cinner, J. E., … & Vigliola, L. (2014). Human-mediated loss of phylogenetic and functional diversity in coral reef fishes. Current Biology, 24(5), 555-560.

Dernie, K. M., Kaiser, M. J., & Warwick, R. M. (2003). Recovery rates of benthic communities following physical disturbance. Journal of Animal Ecology, 72(6), 1043-1056.

Graham, N. A., Wilson, S. K., Jennings, S., Polunin, N. V., Bijoux, J. P., & Robinson, J. (2006). Dynamic fragility of oceanic coral reef ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(22), 8425-8429.

Knobe, J., & Nichols, S. (Eds.). (2013). Experimental philosophy (Vol. 2). London: Oxford University Press, pp.105-202.

Kuipers, T. A. (2013). Philosophy of design research. In New Challenges to Philosophy of Science (pp. 457-466). Springer Netherland, pp.132-322.

Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. New Jersey:John Wiley & Sons, pp. 202-265.

Mora, C., Graham, N. A., & Nyström, M. (2016). Ecological limitations to the resilience of coral reefs. Coral Reefs, 35(4), 1271-1280.

Mumby, P. J., & Steneck, R. S. (2008). Coral reef management and conservation in light of rapidly evolving ecological paradigms. Trends in ecology & evolution, 23(10), 555-563.

Nagelkerken, I., & Connell, S. D. (2015). Global alteration of ocean ecosystem functioning due to increasing human CO2 emissions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(43), 13272-13277.

Phinn, S. R., Kovacs, E. M., Roelfsema, C. M., Canto, R. F., Collier, C. J., & McKenzie, L. J. (2017). Assessing the potential for satellite image monitoring of seagrass thermal dynamics: for inter-and shallow sub-tidal seagrasses in the inshore Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Australia. International Journal of Digital Earth, 1-24.

Portillo de la Osa, V., & Maya, L. (2014). Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services.

Pratchett, M. S., Hoey, A. S., & Wilson, S. K. (2014). Reef degradation and the loss of critical ecosystem goods and services provided by coral reef fishes. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 7, 37-43.

Punch, K. F. (2013). Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. London:Sage, p.52.

Roberts, T. E., Moloney, J. M., Sweatman, H. P. A., & Bridge, T. C. L. (2015). Benthic community composition on submerged reefs in the central Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs, 34(2), 569-580.

Sale, P. F. (Ed.). (2013). The ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Elsevier.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research Onion. Research methods for business students, 136-162.

Seale, J. K. (2013). E-learning and disability in higher education: accessibility research and practice.Abingdon:Routledge, pp.102-234.

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016). Research methods for business: A skill building approach. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 165-170.

Selgrath, J. C., Peterson, G. D., Thyresson, M., Nyström, M., & Gergel, S. E. (2017). Regime Shifts and Spatial Resilience in a Coral Reef Seascape. In Learning Landscape Ecology (pp. 301-322). Springer New York.

Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, pp.132-185.

Worm, B., Barbier, E. B., Beaumont, N., Duffy, J. E., Folke, C., Halpern, B. S., … & Sala, E. (2006). Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. science, 314(5800), 787-790.

Yin, R. K. (2013). Case study research: Design and methods. London: Sage publications, pp.86-123.

Adipudi, S., Beernink, E., Lakey, A., & Zarzuela, K. (2017). Impacts of Climate Change: Coral Reef Biodiversity.

Bozec, Y. M., & Mumby, P. J. (2015). Synergistic impacts of global warming on the resilience of coral reefs. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370(1659), 20130267.

Brewer, A. N. (2017). Literature Review of Coral Bleaching from an Ecological Perspective.

Chollett, I., Enríquez, S., & Mumby, P. J. (2014). Redefining thermal regimes to design reserves for coral reefs in the face of climate change. PloS one, 9(10), e110634.

Ford, A.K., Eich, A., McAndrews, R.S., Mangubhai, S., Nugues, M.M., Bejarano, S., Moore, B.R., Rico, C., Wild, C. & Ferse, S.C., (2018). Evaluation of coral reef management effectiveness using conventional versus resilience-based metrics. Ecological Indicators, 85, pp.308-317.

Glynn, P. W., & Manzello, D. P. (2015). Bioerosion and coral reef growth: a dynamic balance. In Coral reefs in the Anthropocene (pp. 67-97). Springer Netherlands.

Hughes, T. P., Kerry, J. T., & Simpson, T. (2017). Large?scale bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef. Ecology.

Manzello, D. P., Eakin, C. M., & Glynn, P. W. (2017). Effects of global warming and ocean acidification on carbonate budgets of eastern pacific coral reefs. In Coral reefs of the eastern tropical Pacific (pp. 517-533). Springer Netherlands.

Mies, M., Güth, A. Z., Castro, C. B., Pires, D. O., Calderon, E. N., Pompeu, M., & Sumida, P. Y. G. (2018). Bleaching in reef invertebrate larvae associated with Symbiodinium strains within clades A–F. Marine Biology, 165(1), 6.

Mumby, P. J., Wolff, N. H., Bozec, Y. M., Chollett, I., & Halloran, P. (2014). Operationalizing the resilience of coral reefs in an era of climate change. Conservation Letters, 7(3), 176-187.

Peters, E. C. (2015). Diseases of coral reef organisms. In Coral Reefs in the Anthropocene (pp. 147-178). Springer Netherlands.

van Oppen, M. J., Oliver, J. K., Putnam, H. M., & Gates, R. D. (2015). Building coral reef resilience through assisted evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(8), 2307-2313.