Coral reef research methods
Unknown authors
Abstract
Corals and coral reefs are facing increasing threats to their existence as a result of stress from human-accelerated climate change and pressure. Due to frequent bleaching events that coral reefs are facing, there has been an increase in the activity of researchers to understand and mitigate the effects of various stressors and to conserve the corals and coral reefs into the future. To achieve these aims, researchers use various methodologies and techniques as part of their research protocols. However, these methods and techniques are often not standardized and hence the data obtained can be difficult to reproduce. Reaching some consensus on basic methods and techniques would be helpful not only to current researchers and students but also to future workers. We will achieve this by inviting submissions, which will look at the current status of the analysis methods and protocols, compare and contrast them, and bring out the most suitable protocols. We encourage researchers to provide basic Standard Operating Procedures and emphasize the importance of having generalized protocols with certain basic aspects to be uniform so that the results will be comparable. By doing so, the goal is to make the results as comparable as possible. Also, co-editors will contribute a synthesis to give an overall picture. With this in mind, we wish to create a special issue on