Ocean Conservancy

Seabirds and native vegetation drive ecosystem processes that support atoll island resilience

Ecosystem restoration is expected to enhance ecosystem resilience to climate change, but few empirical and mechanistic demonstrations of such assertions exist. Here, we explore this topic for tropical atoll systems, combining science on nutrient subsidies and geo-ecological funct...

Increasing nitrogen loading in the Gulf of Mexico undermines coral reef resilience

The ongoing global decline of coral reefs underscores the need to identify key mechanisms driving reef deterioration. The Flower Garden Banks (FGB) reefs in the northern Gulf are widely regarded as some of the healthiest in the continental United States, but recent disease outbre...