The richness and beauty of coral reefs stems from a juxtaposition between the smallness of animals that construct them and the huge features that emerge, of relationships between animals and algae, and the sessile nature of corals combined with miniscule movements that are essential for animal life. This intricate ecosystem can erect entire islands from the ocean floor but is also extremely vulnerable to changing environmental conditions. For this month’s science ramble, let’s look at how corals come to form reefs, and how their motions might change with global warming and higher sea levels.

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Further reading:

The paper covered in this episode: https://journals.aps.org/prapplied/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.024078

A more accessible news article covering the story: https://physicsworld.com/a/waving-coral-synchronizes-according-to-temperature-and-light-conditions/