Dear Colleagues,

Coral reefs are composed of many communities, depicting groups of interacting organisms inhabiting a particular space and time. Though their existence is threatened and their future prospects may seem gloomy, several observations have suggested that some may actually do better than others. It emphasizes the need for greater recognition of the differences among coral reef communities, their dynamics, and the various roles they could play as our climate is changing. Those differences would further stress the importance of customized management actions for the community of interest in order to improve the prospects of conservation on these valuable ecosystems.

Accordingly, this Special Issue welcomes contributions that recognize the diversity, role, and conservation of all coral reef communities. This issue will acknowledge the ‘plurality’ of the coral reefs while highlighting similarities and dissimilarities with generally accepted concepts applying to their dynamics. Studies documenting the absence of significant changes in a given community or the increase or reef-builders in marginal communities are especially encouraged as they go against the worldwide trend of coral reef degradation, and are informative in many ways to comprehensively predict the future of these ecosystems.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Coral reefs
• Differences
• Disturbances
• Climate change
• Ecological shifts
• Community ecology