I. Overview * What are coral reefs and why should we care? 1. Where do we find reefs and where are they most diverse? 2. Why are coral reefs not found everywhere? Physical and chemical needs II. Types of Coral Reefs 3. How many kinds of coral reefs are there and how do they differ? 4. Barrier reefs, atolls, and fringing reefs III. Organisms that Build Coral Reefs 5.

The phylum (Cnidaria) and the symbiosis that makes coral reefs happen 6. The role of sunlight and algal symbionts in coral calcification and growth 7. Other reef builders such as calcareous algae IV. Reef Corals and Other Reef Creatures 8. It takes a village: Which critters thrive on coral reefs, and which help coral reefs thrive? 9. Macrophytes 10. Echinoderms 11. Lobsters 12.

Mollusks 13. Fish V. Geological Patterns and Processes 14. How do coral reefs form and how old are they? 15. Darwin's volcanoes and other theories of how reefs form over geological time 16. Relative sea level changes: Catch up, keep up, or drown VI. Biological Patterns and Processes 17. Who needs sexual reproduction on coral reefs and who doesn't? 18.

Fundamental distinctions between aclonal, clonal, and colonial animals 19. How and why populations are established on coral reefs 20. Larval dispersal and connectivity 21. What limits populations? 22. Interacting processes and their role in population dynamics 23. Thresholds, feedbacks, and resilience VII. Scaling Up in Space and Time 24. Coral reefs before there were dinosaurs 25.

Macroevolution of reef corals 26. Macroevolution of reef fishes 27. Why are coral reefs so different from place to place? Biodiversity hotspots VII. Coral Reefs in the Anthropocene 28. Global climate stresses 29. Coral bleaching & disease 30. Overfishing, management, and MPAs 31. Coral restoration 32.

Next-gen coral reefs and extreme measures to save reefs 33. Causes for optimism.