Coral reefs are iconic examples of biological hotspots, highly appreciated because of their
ecosystem services. Yet, they are threatened by human impact and climate change …

With the decline of reef-building corals on tropical reefs, sponges have emerged as an
important component of changing coral reef ecosystems. Seemingly simple, sponges are …

Anthropogenic stressors are impacting ecological systems across the world. Of particular
concern are the recent rapid changes occurring in coral reef systems. With ongoing …

Marine sponges have been successful in their expansion across diverse ecological niches
around the globe. Pioneering work attributed this success to both a well-developed …

Coral reefs typically occur in oligotrophic waters, where tight recycling of energy and
nutrients is essential in order to support their high productivity. Sponges are efficient filter …

Background Sponges are important suspension-feeding members of reef communities, with
the collective capacity to overturn the entire water column on shallow Caribbean reefs every …

Shallow warm-water and deep-sea cold-water corals engineer the coral reef framework and
fertilize reef communities by releasing coral mucus, a source of reef dissolved organic matter …

The high biodiversity of coral reefs results in complex trophic webs where energy and
nutrients are transferred between species through a multitude of pathways. Here, we …

Some of the fundamental drivers of reef functioning are being rewritten through progress in
understanding nutrient cycling. The sponge loop, described in 2013, revealed that some …

Coral reefs are under considerable pressure from global stressors such as elevated sea
surface temperature and ocean acidification, as well as local factors including eutrophication …