Coral Reefs of the Western Pacific Ocean in a Changing Anthropocene [E-Book]

Chapter 1. Introduction and Background -- Chapter 2. Anthropogenic Environmental Impacts on Coral Reefs in the Western and South-Western Pacific Ocean -- Chapter 3. Advances in Coral Biology -- Chapter 4. Reef Ecology in the Western Pacific for Adaptation to Global Change -- Chapter 5. Biogeochemical Dynamics of Coral Reef Systems -- Chapter 6. Environmental and Climate Proxies Embedded in Coral Skeletons -- Chapter 7. Synthesis and Future Perspectives on the Coral Reefs in the Western Pacific Region.

The monograph is based on the research and training activities in the Western Pacific Ocean Region within the umbrella of UNESCO/IOC-Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific Region. The results of these activities are compared to cases from other tropical and subtropical regions on this planet to make the knowledge applicable to global aspects of sustainability of coral reef ecosystems. In this monograph, we examine the coral reefs from viewpoint of multidisciplinary approaches, including, environmental impacts, coral biology and system ecology, biogeochemical cycles and processes that drive the material and energy flow through the food web, as well as the proxies in geochemistry that have been used to track the responses of coral reefs to the changing climate and human perturbations. Although this study is focused on the Western Pacific Ocean, the Western Pacific Ocean is so large and diverse that most reef environment types on this planet are located within it. Therefore, knowledgegained in this study is relevant to the application of coastal management in practice as well as in the teaching classes on the interactions between coral reef ecosystems with changing environments.