Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

New interventions are needed to save coral reefs

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 1, pages 1420–1422 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

We anticipate that conventional management approaches will be insufficient to protect coral reefs, even if global warming is limited to 1.5 °C. Emerging technologies are needed to stem the decline of these natural assets.

Since 2014, coral reefs worldwide have been subjected to the most extensive, prolonged and damaging heatwave in recorded history1. Large sections of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) bleached in response to heat stress in 2016 and 2017 — the first back-to-back events on record. Such severe coral bleaching results in widespread loss of reef habitat and biodiversity. Globally, we are facing catastrophic decline of these ecosystems, which sustain services valued at around $US10 trillion per year2, are home to over a million species3, and feed and support the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people4.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: An integrated approach to reef resilience.

References

  1. Global Coral Bleaching 2014–2017: Status and an Appeal for Observations (NOAA, Silver Spring, 2017); https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/analyses_guidance/global_coral_bleaching_2014-17_status.php

  2. Costanza, R. et al. Global Environ. Change 26, 152–158 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Knowlton, N. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 98, 5419–5425 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Cinner, J. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 7, 65–71 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. van Hooidonk, R. et al. Sci. Rep. 6, 39666 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Anthony, K. R. N. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 41, 59–81 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hughes, T. P. et al. Nature 546, 82–90 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. McCook, L. J. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 107, 18278–18285 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Fabricius, K. E. et al. Nat. Clim. Change 1, 165–169 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Dixon, G. B. et al. Science 348, 1460–1462 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Palumbi, S. R., Barshis, D. J., Traylor-Knowles, N. & Bay, R. A. Science 344, 895–898 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Coles, S. L. & Riegl, B. M. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 72, 323–332 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Hoegh-Guldberg, O. et al. Science 321, 345–346 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Byrne, M., Stone, L. & Millar, M. A. J. Appl. Ecol. 48, 1365–1373 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. van Oppen, M. J. H. et al. Glob. Change Biol. 23, 3437–3448 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Piaggio, A. J. et al. Trends Ecol. Evol. 32, 97–107 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Kaebnick, G. E. et al. Science 354, 710–711 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Graham, N. A. J., Cinner, J. E., Norström, A. V. & Nyström, M. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 7, 9–14 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hobbs, R. J., Hallett, L. M., Ehrlich, P. R. & Mooney, H. A. Bioscience 61, 442–450 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Wolfenbarger, L. L. & Phifer, P. R. Science 290, 2088–2093 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia

    Ken Anthony, Line K. Bay, John Gunn, Andrew Heyward, David Mead, Madeleine J. H. van Oppen, Britta Schaffelke & Terry Walshe

  2. Australia National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 0200, Australia

    Robert Costanza

  3. Queensland University of Technology, Gardens Point, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia

    Jennifer Firn

  4. Marine Ecology Research Centre, IDEAS, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, 2480, Australia

    Peter Harrison

  5. Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, University of Western Australia, 64 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia

    Andrew Heyward

  6. Great Barrier Reef Foundation, 300 Ann Street, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia

    Petra Lundgren

  7. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Tom Moore

  8. Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia

    Peter J. Mumby

  9. School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia

    Madeleine J. H. van Oppen

  10. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Biosecurity Queensland, 41 George Street, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia

    John Robertson

  11. US Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, 20708, USA

    Michael C. Runge

  12. University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, New South Wales, 2007, Australia

    David J. Suggett

  13. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia

    David Wachenfeld

Authors
  1. Ken Anthony
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Line K. Bay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Robert Costanza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jennifer Firn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. John Gunn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Peter Harrison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Andrew Heyward
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Petra Lundgren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. David Mead
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Tom Moore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Peter J. Mumby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Madeleine J. H. van Oppen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. John Robertson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Michael C. Runge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. David J. Suggett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Britta Schaffelke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. David Wachenfeld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Terry Walshe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ken Anthony.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Anthony, K., Bay, L.K., Costanza, R. et al. New interventions are needed to save coral reefs. Nat Ecol Evol 1, 1420–1422 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0313-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0313-5

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing