The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) has published a blog on the importance of coral reefs in a changing climate by our Environment Director, Dr Katie Medcalf.

Reefs support biodiversity, tourism and fisheries, and the reef structures provide significant protection from storm events. Coral reefs may support the highest biodiversity of any ecosystem on the planet, providing spawning, nursery, breeding, and feeding grounds for numerous organisms. The iconic reef species, such as parrotfish, grouper, shark and the many species of smaller fish are so attractive that they form the basis of a multi-billion-pound tourism industry. Over 800 hard coral species and more than 4,000 species of fish are recorded, but there are many unknown and undescribed aspects of reef biodiversity, in particular the small organisms living with corals.

Read the whole blog.