Roadmap to Resources

These online resources are meant to guide students and educators to topics presented in the online coral tutorial. Many of the Web pages listed reside within larger Websites. You may wish to browse each Website to examine other available resources.

Please note: The Web links provided have been checked at the time of this page's publication, but the linking sites may become outdated or non-operational over time. If you should come across a non operational link please contact NOAA Ocean Service Education at oceanserviceseducation@noaa.gov

• Coral Biology
• Deep Water Corals
• Coral Reef Ecosystems
• Benefits from Reefs
• Threats to Coral Reefs
• Things You Can Do
• Glossary
• Data from Coral Reef Research
• Images
• Maps
• Information about NOAA Programs Relevant to Coral Reefs

Coral Biology

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/about/what_are
"What are Coral Reefs" An essay providing a general description of the individual coral animal; from NOAA's Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS).

Deep Water Corals

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/activities/resourceCD/resources/deep_coral_bm.pdf
"Deep Water Corals" An 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; from NOAA’s Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS).

https://deepseacoraldata.noaa.gov/
“NOAA Deep Sea Coral Data Portal” Deep sea coral and sponge data, images, and technical reports from research funded by NOAA’s Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program and its partners.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/habitat-conservation/deep-sea-coral-habitat
“Deep-Sea Coral Habitat” A resource by NOAA Fisheries on deep-sea coral habitats and NOAA’s work.

Coral Reef Ecosystems

https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/every-full-moon/full-moon-coralcomeback.html
“Coral Comeback?” A video series by NOAA Ocean Today on coral reefs. Video topics include coral biology, threats to corals, and activities to conserve corals.

https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life-education-resources/coral-reef-ecosystems
“Coral Reef Ecosystems” Information and resources from NOAA Education.

https://www.coral.noaa.gov/resources/education.html
“Education and Outreach” Information and modules from the Coral Health and Monitoring Program at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. Topics include coral spawning, bleaching, and the effects of carbon dioxide on coral reefs.

Benefits from Reefs

https://coralreef.noaa.gov/education/eduresources.html
“Education Resources” Whether you are a student working on a school project, a teacher looking for ways to incorporate lessons about coral reefs into your classroom, an informal educator looking for information and activities to include in coral outreach, or just someone wanting to learn more about coral, these education resources are for you.

https://www.coast.noaa.gov/states/fast-facts/coral-reefs.html
“Fast Facts: Coral Reefs” Information on the benefits of coral reefs from NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management.

https://coralreef.noaa.gov/gallery/cr_economy.html
“The Coral Reef Economy” A video by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program on the benefits of coral reefs for the U.S. economy.

Threats to Coral Reefs

https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/coral-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.

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/activities/cdhc_histo_II
"Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Coral Histopathology II" A report from a workshop on coral pathologies including coral anatomy descriptions and figures, a description of the approach to coral tissue histopathological examination, a recommended format for describing the histology and histopathology of coral tissue, and a glossary of coral anatomy and histopathology terms with relevant references.

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/activities/reef_managers_guide
"A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching" Information on the causes and consequences of coral bleaching, as well as management strategies to help local and regional reef managers reduce this threat to coral reef ecosystems.

https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/experimental-reef-lab/
"Experimental Reef Lab" The Experimental Reef Lab at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory studies the impacts of ocean acidification, rising temperatures, and changing conditions on reef ecosystems.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html
"What is Coral Bleaching" Information and an infographic on coral bleaching.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coralreef-climate.html
"Threats to Coral Reefs: Climate Change" Information and an infographic on the effects of climate change on coral reefs and how people can reduce impacts.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral-overfishing.html
"Threats to Coral Reefs: Overfishing" Information and an infographic on the effects of overfishing and unsustainable fishing practices on coral reefs and how people can reduce impacts.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral-pollution.html
"Threats to Coral Reefs: LAnd-Based Sources of Pollution" Information and an infographic on the effects of land-based sources of pollution on coral reefs and how people can reduce impacts.

Things You Can Do

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/thingsyoucando.html
"Things You Can Do to Protect Coral Reefs," even if you don't live near a reef.

Glossary

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/glossary
"Online Coral Reef Glossary" Definitions of nearly 3,000 technical and scientific terms and acronyms related to coral reefs; from NOAA’s Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS).

Data from Coral Reef Research

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/data/welcome.html
"NOAA’s Coral Reef Data," providing three access paths to NOAA's coral data and information: Browse Data Descriptions, Text Search, and Map Search; from NOAA’s Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS).

Images

https://photolib.noaa.gov/Collections/Coral-Kingdom
“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.

https://coralreef.noaa.gov/gallery/welcome.html
“Coral Images” A gallery of great images of corals from NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program.

https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/image-gallery/welcome.html
“Image Gallery” Image gallery from NOAA’s Office for Ocean Exploration and Research, including a section on coral communities.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/gallery/
“Ocean Image” The National Ocean Service image gallery.

Maps

https://coralreef.noaa.gov/about/wherewework.html “Where We Work” Maps of locations in the U.S. and internationally where NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program works.

https://www.coral.noaa.gov/reef_maps/index.shtml
Links to maps of coral reef locations around the world, from the book Coral Reefs of the World by Susan M. Wells, published by IUCN Conservation Monitoring Center and United Nations Environment Programme.

https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/pibhmc/
Provides access to maps of benthic habitats in coral reef ecosystems throughout the U.S. Pacific Islands, including the Hawaiian and Mariana archipelagos, American Samoa and the remote, U.S.-affiliated islands such as Johnston and Palmyra Atolls; from the Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center.

Information about NOAA Programs Relevant to Coral Reefs

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/proj_exp/welcome.html
“CRCP Project Explorer Portal” This portal allows you to search for projects funded by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program.

https://coralreef.noaa.gov/about/welcome.html
About NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, including programs throughout NOAA that work in coral conservation.