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Corals Tutorial: Roadmap to resources

These resources allow students and educators to take a deeper dive into the topics presented in the Corals Tutorial. As some of the content resides within larger websites, we recommend you browse these sites to explore the wealth of other resources available to you.

All URLs were reviewed and accurate at the time of this page's publication. If you should come across a non-operational link, contact NOAA Ocean Service Education at oceanserviceseducation@noaa.gov.

Coral Biology, Ecosystems, and Educational Resources

What are Coral Reefs?: An essay from NOAA’s Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) Outreach providing a general overview of coral animals and the structures they form.

Education Resources from NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program: Whether you are a student working on a school project, a teacher looking to incorporate lessons about coral reefs into your classroom, an informal educator looking for information and activities to include in coral outreach, or just want to learn more about coral, these education resources are for you.

Coral Reef Ecosystems: Information and education resources from NOAA Education.

Coral Ecosystems: Information on shallow, mesophotic, and deepwater coral ecosystems, and what NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science is doing to learn more about, and protect them.

Education and Outreach Information and Modules: NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) Coral Health and Monitoring Program offers a wide range of resources on topics ranging from coral spawning, bleaching, and the effects of carbon dioxide on coral reefs.

Coral Comeback?: A six-part video series - with four bonus videos! - from NOAA’s Ocean Today Program. Topics include coral biology, threats to corals, The science of super corals, and activities to conserve corals and reef ecosystems.

Restoring Coral Reefs: Learn how NOAA works to restore these valuable habitats.

Coral Reef Watch Education Resources: NOAA Coral Reef Watch uses remote sensing from satellites to help researchers and others prepare for and respond to stressors impacting coral reef ecosystems. These resources are designed for a wide range of audiences to learn about coral reefs, their importance, and the issues they face.

Deep Water Corals

NOAA Deep Sea Coral Research & Technology Program: Deep sea coral and sponge data, images, story maps, education resources and more! from NOAA and its partners.

Deep Sea Corals: Out of Sight, But No Longer Out Of Mind: An extensive illustrated essay presenting an overview of the solitary and reef-forming corals that inhabit deep, cold waters, at lightless depths that may exceed 2000 meters, and temperatures as cold as 4° C.

Deep-Sea Coral Habitat: A resource on deep-sea coral habitats and NOAA’s work to monitor and protect them.

Benefits from Reefs

Fast Facts: Coral Reefs: Information on the benefits of coral reefs from NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management.

The Coral Reef Economy: A video by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program - In English and Spanish!- on the benefits of coral reefs to the U.S. economy.

Threats to Coral Reefs

Coral Disease and Health Consortium: The Coral Disease and Health Consortium is a network of field and laboratory scientists, coral reef managers, and agency representatives devoted to understanding coral health and disease.

Florida Reef Tract Coral Disease Outbreak: A portal with information and news on the stony coral tissue loss disease moving throughout the Caribbean region.

Threats to Coral: Part of the NOAA AOML Coral Lab. The Experimental Reef Lab at NOAA AOML studies the impacts of ocean acidification, rising temperatures, and changing conditions on reef ecosystems.

Coral Bleaching – A Review of the Causes and Consequences: A chapter of a report that describes what coral bleaching is, the factors that confer resilience to coral bleaching, asks if corals can adapt to climate change, and what the future will look like for corals and many peoples that rely on them. This chapter is part of a larger report: A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching.

Infographics

Coral Reef Conservation Program’s infographics Gallery: Infographics covering coral reef health, threats, solutions, and communities.

What is Coral Bleaching: an excellent infographic conveying Information on coral bleaching.

Threats to Coral Reefs: Climate Change: an infographic with Information on the effects of climate change on coral reefs and how people can reduce its impacts.

Threats to Coral Reefs: Overfishing: an infographic with Information on the effects of overfishing and unsustainable fishing practices on coral reefs and how people can reduce impacts.

Threats to Coral Reefs: Land-Based Sources of Pollution: an infographic with Information on the effects of land-based sources of pollution on coral reefs and how people can reduce impacts.

Things You Can Do to Protect Coral Reefs: even if you don't live near a reef.

Glossary

NOAA’s Coral Reef Glossary: from NOAA’s Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS), provides definitions of nearly 3,000 technical and scientific terms and acronyms related to coral reefs.

Photo Libraries

Coral Kingdom: The NOAA Coral Kingdom Photo Library, including high-resolution images of fish, invertebrates, and scuba divers from Caribbean, Pacific, and Red Sea coral reefs.

Coral Images: A gallery of great images of corals from NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program.

Image and Video Gallery: from NOAA’s Office for Ocean Exploration and Research, including a section on coral communities.

Research images: A gallery of images of research, including corals, from NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory.

Maps

Where We Work: presents maps of locations of where NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program works. From this page you can also access information and reports of NOAA work done in these locations.