Vulnerability of Corals to Seawater Warming

Abstract

Coral reefs are the most diverse marine habitat, which support an estimated 1 million species globally. They are highly sensitive to climatic influences and are among the most sensitive of all ecosystems to temperature changes, exhibiting the phenomenon known as coral bleaching when stressed by higher than normal sea temperatures. Reef-building corals are highly dependent on a symbiotic relationship with microscopic algae (type of dinoflagellate known as zooxanthellae), which live within the coral tissues.