Coral Reef Management

Course Description

The Coral Reef Management Online Course is designed to provide marine managers and practitioners with the foundational knowledge necessary to support coral reef resilience in the face of climate change. The course consists of four lessons that explore the ecology of coral reef ecosystems, threats to reefs, management strategies for addressing local and global threats, and guidance for assessing and monitoring reefs for resilience. This new course builds on the Introduction to Coral Reef Resilience course, which was launched in 2010 and last updated in 2026. It was updated with support from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program.

Course Outline

Coral Reef Ecology (75 minutes) – provides foundational information on coral reef ecology, including the coral organism (nutrition, reproduction, and growth), processes of coral bleaching, reef habitat (formation, zonation, and biogeography), reef communities (community assemblages, herbivory, and competition), and connections with other nearby habitats and human communities. This lesson also introduces principles of social-ecological resilience of reef ecosystems.

Threats to Coral Reefs (75 minutes) – describes threats to coral reefs, including global threats (e.g., warming seas, mass coral bleaching and ocean acidification), and regional and local threats (e.g., pollution, overfishing, and coral diseases), and the social-ecological consequences.

Management Strategies for Resilience (75 minutes) – describes a wide range of management strategies implemented around the world to support reef resilience. Strategies discussed include marine protected areas (MPAs) and resilient MPA design, managing for climate change impacts, reducing land-based sources of pollution, controlling invasive species, and implementing interventions to assist the recovery of degraded reefs.

Assessing and Monitoring Reefs (45 minutes) – provides an overview of designing monitoring programs and conducting assessments. Guidance is provided for developing routine, responsive, and participatory monitoring programs as well as assessing and monitoring reef resilience and socio-economic conditions. This lesson also compiles the latest in-depth guidance documents to assist in the development of resilience assessments.