Problems and perspectives regarding drilling through coral reefs: the reconstruction of Holocene coral-reef ecosystems

Abstract

Drillholes in coral reef are made to reconstruct the coral-reef ecosystems of the past, because long-term geological data are required to predict the ecological response of reef ecosystems to global and anthropogenic stresses. A decrease in the coverage and species diversity of corals has been observed in many reefs worldwide, but it remains uncertain whether this phenomenon is natural or is caused by human activity. Although recent research has improved our understanding of the number of species and the coral assemblage during the period of Holocene sea-level rise, little is known of ecological strategies and the succession of corals during reef formation. Therefore, accurate reconstructions and predictions of coral-reef ecosystems require future drilling of coral reefs at higher temporal resolution to obtain the ecological scope of coral species.