Adaptive Potential of Reef-Building Corals in a Changing Ocean
A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Ecology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2024) | Viewed by 125
Special Issue Editor
Interests: climate change effects on demography; reproduction; growth; morphology; skeletal mechanical properties; crystallography; mineralogy; biomineralization; d13C-, d15N- and d18O-stable isotope signatures in temperate and subtropical corals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Reef-building corals are the main framework builders of complex three-dimensional reef structures in shallow and deep-sea environments, which provide crucial ecosystem services and a habitat for diverse organisms. These ecosystems have undergone a decrease in biodiversity and ecological functioning due to global (e.g., ocean warming and acidification) and local stressors (e.g., pollution, overfishing) worldwide. A growing body of literature shows that some corals are more resilient to climate change than others, but the underlying mechanisms behind enhanced coral resilience remain unclear. As such, how endangered are corals in this new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, characterized by human-dominated ecosystems?
We encourage you to share your findings at all levels, from molecular, to organism and community levels, addressing the following research questions:
What acclimatization and adaptive mechanisms can corals employ to mitigate ocean warming and acidification? What growth modes (solitary vs. colonial, massive vs. branching) and trophic strategies (zooxanthellate vs. non-zooxanthellate) are more or less resilient to changing environmental conditions and how will this affect future coral reef assemblages? Can minimizing local impacts contribute to coral resilience under climate change? Are there potential climate change refugia that can help mitigate global impacts on corals?
Dr. Fiorella Prada
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- ocean warming
- ocean acidification
- anthropogenic impacts
- coral resilience
- phenotypic plasticity
- coral response to climate change
- holobiont acclimatization
