Fine-scale spatial and temporal trends in Red Sea coral reef research

Abstract

The Red Sea is a globally significant hotspot of coral reef biodiversity and one of the earliest study sites for modern reef research. Reef science in this basin has been summarized in three review papers, each covering different aspects of the available research in broad terms. To build on these earlier works, greatly expanding both the library of publications reviewed and the resolution of spatial, temporal and thematic analyses, an updated literature review was conducted, comprising 1658 publications focused on coral reef research in the Red Sea. Here, precise study location data from this updated reference library were used to analyze local research trends for both extant and fossil coral reefs in the Red Sea. The results highlighted recent increases in publication rates for most Red Sea countries with 28% of collected papers being published in the final five years of the 116-year time series. Fine-scale spatial analyses of study locations revealed a persistent research hotspot in Israeli/Jordanian waters, but also showed more recent hotspots in northern Egypt and central Saudi Arabia. Conversely, the southern Red Sea remains largely understudied. Trends across broad topics, focal taxa, and methodologies of collected papers were also reviewed, showing that many themes within the database were covered by only a single study. Overall, the collected information presented here can help guide future research efforts toward understudied topics and regions. Data-driven management will be vital to the conservation of these habitats, and efficiently targeting key knowledge gaps requires understanding the spatial and thematic distribution of local research.