Open research questions in Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies

What the literature leaves open

• The paper identifies the challenge of addressing the catastrophic degradation of coral reefs and other tropical marine ecosystems. It also highlights the need for massive and urgent upscaling of management effort. Additionally, it notes the importance of considering additional, more active and targeted interventions to complement increased effort on the five objectives.

  Objectives and principles for successful management and conservation of coral reefs and other tropical marine ecosystems · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the integration and consolidation of knowledge on conservation and the key strategies for success. Current management is not sufficient to address the worsening impacts on tropical marine ecosystems.

  Objectives and principles for successful management and conservation of coral reefs and other tropical marine ecosystems · 2026 · DOI

• Low levels of education due to poverty and a lack of basic school facilities, - Small sample size of 55 registered fisherfolk members

  Fisher’s Well-being and Resilience Assessment in Relation to River Siltation in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental, Philippines · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in understanding the impact of river siltation on the fisherfolk's well-being and resilience. The research highlights the need for sustainable environmental management practices to improve the well-being of the fisherfolk. The study emphasizes the importance of considering the fisherfolk's values and environmental awareness in sustainable livelihoods.

  Fisher’s Well-being and Resilience Assessment in Relation to River Siltation in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental, Philippines · 2026 · DOI

• One challenge is the complexity of governance arrangements in marine protected areas, which can involve multiple stakeholders and institutions. Another challenge is the need to account for the nested structure of multiple MPAs within countries, which requires the use of multilevel models. The study also faces the challenge of dealing with correlated covariates, which can affect the accuracy of the results.

  Shared governance increases marine protected area effectiveness · 2025 · DOI

• further investigation of the intricate relationships between corals and their associated microorganisms, - exploration of the potential of CAMs in drug discovery strategies

  Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant Activities · 2025 · DOI

• Limited information on the functional roles of coral-associated microorganisms. Need for a deeper understanding of the intricate relationships between corals and their associated microorganisms.

  Novel Insights and Genomic Characterization of Coral-Associated Microorganisms from Maldives Displaying Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and UV-Protectant Activities · 2025 · DOI

• High salinity and scarce freshwater in arid coastal zones disrupt osmotic balance and induce ion toxicity, impairing photosynthesis, water uptake, and metabolic processes. Waterlogging, nutrient imbalances, and heavy metal accumulation require precise management. Sabkha environments present extreme conditions, including high salinity, acidic pH, and H₂S toxicity, reducing survival and growth.

  Mastering resilience: Avicennia marina’s survival in hypersaline arid zones · 2025 · DOI

• Short-term studies limit insights into long-term sustainability, ecosystem stability, and adaptability. There is a need for field validation of amendments, heavy metal phytotoxicity data, and economic viability of carbon offset programs.

  Mastering resilience: Avicennia marina’s survival in hypersaline arid zones · 2025 · DOI

• Further research is needed to understand the factors that influence the effectiveness of different governance arrangements - Studies should investigate the impact of decentralized governance on conservation outcomes in different contexts - Research should examine the role of multi-stakeholder participation and collaboration in achieving conservation goals

  Shared governance increases marine protected area effectiveness · 2025 · DOI

• Reef-building corals exhibit extensive physiological and transcriptional plasticity, yet the chromatin-level regulation of coral gene expression remains poorly characterized.

  Genome-Wide Mapping of Major Histone Modifications Reveals Distinct Epigenetic Regulatory States in a Reef-Building Coral · 2026 · DOI

• While the association between fish and anemone is well documented, the identity and distribution of resident Symbiodiniaceae remains poorly characterized.

  Hidden diversity and host specificity of Cladocopium symbionts revealed by phylotranscriptomics in giant sea anemones. · 2026 · DOI

• This study provides a foundation for understanding microbial colonization, immune defense, and holobiont function in an understudied cnidarian lineage.

  Comparative genomics and microbiome profiling reveal a conserved Vibrio rich mucus microbiota of the Florida false coral (Ricordea florida) · 2026 · DOI

• Despite its ecological importance, little is known about the microbial communities associated with mucus-producing corallimorpharians.

  Comparative genomics and microbiome profiling reveal a conserved Vibrio rich mucus microbiota of the Florida false coral (Ricordea florida) · 2026 · DOI

• However, the effectiveness of these techniques in wavy environments with high‐relief roughness remains unclear, as waves and canopy dynamics may modify turbulent mixing.

  Measuring Metabolic Fluxes on Shallow, Wavy Coral Reefs · 2026 · DOI

• The study highlights the significance of biophysical interactions at the seamount and emphasizes the need for further research into small‐scale processes that support biological growth.

  Great Meteor Seamount Circulation Revisited: Insights Into Cold‐Water Coral Habitat Potential · 2026 · DOI

• The Great Meteor Seamount (GMS), is the largest seamount in the North Atlantic and a key ecological feature in the regional network of the Protected Areas of the Azores Archipelago, but remains poorly understood in terms of small‐scale physical‐biological interactions.

  Great Meteor Seamount Circulation Revisited: Insights Into Cold‐Water Coral Habitat Potential · 2026 · DOI

• Despite being one of the most studied reef systems, the extent to which local hydrodynamic processes drive local retention, where larvae return to the natal reef they were released from, as a key mechanism underpinning coral connectivity, remains poorly understood.

  Unraveling Short‐Term Coral Connectivity: The Dominant Influence of Tides on Larval Retention in the Great Barrier Reef · 2026 · DOI

• MicroRNAs (miRNAs)–small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression–are compelling candidates for mediating such plasticity, but their role in coral biology remains poorly characterized.

  A miRNA-mediated gene regulatory network supports seasonal plasticity in the temperate coral Astrangia poculata · 2026 · DOI

• Yet the evolutionary constraints associated with targeting different heat tolerance traits and the risks of unintended fitness costs remain uncertain.

  Choice of traits defines the scope for assisted evolution of corals under climate change · 2026 · DOI

• These results demonstrate segmentation and geometric-estimation feasibility for a curator-confirmed held-out dataset within a controlled laboratory domain; full-scale field performance remains to be validated.

  Image-Based Estimation of Cubic Artificial Reef Settlement and Projected Remaining-Area Ratio Using Mask R-CNN · 2026 · DOI

• Certain coral individuals exhibit enhanced resistance to thermal bleaching, yet the specific microbial assemblages and their roles in these phenotypes remain unclear.

  Inherent differential microbial assemblages and functions associated with corals exhibiting different thermal phenotypes · 2025 · DOI

• In addition, environmental parameters such as thermal variability may promote tolerance, but how variability interacts with holobiont partners to shape responses to thermal challenge remains unclear.

  Cryptic coral diversity is associated with symbioses, physiology, and response to thermal challenge · 2025 · DOI

• Reef building corals are declining worldwide, yet the processes driving population connectivity remain poorly understood.

  Connectivity differs by orders of magnitude among co-distributed corals, affecting spatial scales of eco-evolutionary processes · 2025 · DOI

• Nevertheless, the cellular and molecular regulation of settlement, including in Cnidaria (corals, jellyfish, sea anemones, and hydroids), is not well understood.

  Aboral cell types of Clytia and coral larvae have shared features and link taurine to the regulation of settlement · 2025 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies

• Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification · Science · 2007 · 4,725 citations
• Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals · Nature · 2017 · 3,040 citations
• Climate Change, Human Impacts, and the Resilience of Coral Reefs · Science · 2003 · 2,958 citations
• Confronting the coral reef crisis · Nature · 2004 · 2,609 citations
• Catastrophes, Phase Shifts, and Large-Scale Degradation of a Caribbean Coral Reef · Science · 1994 · 2,093 citations
• Reef Corals: Mutualistic Symbioses Adapted to Nutrient-Poor Environments · BioScience · 1977 · 979 citations
• Light and the Bioenergetics of a Symbiotic Coral · BioScience · 1984 · 507 citations
• Coral Bleaching as an Adaptive Mechanism · BioScience · 1993 · 474 citations
• Population Control in Symbiotic Corals · BioScience · 1993 · 358 citations
• FINGERYEYES: Impressions of Cup Corals · Cultural Anthropology · 2010 · 236 citations

Most recent work

• Choice of traits defines the scope for assisted evolution of corals under climate change · Current Biology · 2026
• Advancing reef recovery through insights into coral nutrition · iScience · 2026
• Can Bacterial Manipulation Deliver Reef-Scale Thermal Enhancement of Corals? · Microorganisms · 2026
• Elevated predation on crown-of-thorns starfish in no-take marine reserves · Current Biology · 2026
• Evolutionary genomics predicts probiotic persistence in corals · bioRxiv · 2026
• Morphological plasticity in a reef-building coral is context-dependent and trades off with resistance to thermal stress · bioRxiv · 2026
• Demographic insights for coral restoration · bioRxiv · 2026
• A paleogenomic and paleoclimatic approach to reconstruct historical responses of coral holobionts to anthropogenic change · bioRxiv · 2026
• Potential Invasive Indo‐Pacific Acropora in a Coral Reef of Venezuela: A Contribution to Their Morphological and Molecular Knowledge · Ecology and Evolution · 2026
• Marine and coastal protected areas in the Caribbean: Numbers, areal extent, distributions, no-take status, and management attributes · Marine Policy · 2026

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