Coral Reefs Are Secretly Connected Across Vast Oceans—and that's Crucial for Their Survival

Coral reefs are secretly connected across vast oceans—and that's crucial for their survival

Lord Howe Island lies in the middle of the ocean, about 700 kilometers northeast of Sydney. It's covered in lush forest and fringed by the world's most southerly coral reef ecosystem.

Coral reefs are secretly connected across vast oceans – and that’s crucial for their survival

Lord Howe Island lies in the middle of the ocean, about 700 kilometres northeast of Sydney. It’s covered in lush forest and fringed by the world’s most southerly coral reef ecosystem. This reef system isn’t as famous as its northern neighbour, the Great Barrier Reef. Our new research in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows it plays an outsized role in keeping vast coral regions across the Pacific connected – and alive. A small number of other r…