Coral reefs are one of the most biodiverse and economically important ecosystems in the world, but they are rapidly degrading due to the effects of global climate change and local anthropogenic stressors. Reef scientists are increasingly studying coral reefs that occur in marginal and extreme environments to understand how organisms respond to, and cope with, environmental stress, and to gain insight into how reef organisms may acclimate or adapt to future environmental change. To date, there have been more than 860 publications describing the biology and/or abiotic conditions of marginal and extreme reef environments, most of which were published within the past decade. These include systems characterized by unusually high, low, and/or variable temperatures (intertidal, lagoonal, high-latitude areas, and shallow seas), turbid or urban environments, acidified habitats, and mesophotic depth, and focus on reefs geographically spread throughout most of the tropics. The papers in this special issue of Coral Reefs, entitled Coral Reefs in a Changing World: Insights from Extremes , build on the growing body of literature on these unique and important ecosystems, providing a deeper understanding of the patterns and processes governing life in marginal reef systems, and the implications that these insights may have for the future of tropical coral reefs in our rapidly changing world.

中文翻译：

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变化世界中极端珊瑚礁的见解

珊瑚礁是世界上生物多样性最丰富、经济上最重要的生态系统之一，但由于全球气候变化和当地人为压力源的影响，它们正在迅速退化。珊瑚礁科学家越来越多地研究发生在边缘和极端环境中的珊瑚礁，以了解生物如何应对和应对环境压力，并深入了解珊瑚礁生物如何适应或适应未来的环境变化。迄今为止，已有 860 多篇出版物描述了边缘和极端珊瑚礁环境的生物学和/或非生物条件，其中大部分是在过去十年内发表的。这些包括以异常高、低和/或变化的温度（潮间带、泻湖、高纬度地区和浅海）为特征的系统，浑浊或城市环境、酸化的栖息地和中光深度，并关注地理上分布在大部分热带地区的珊瑚礁。本期珊瑚礁特刊中的论文题为“不断变化的世界中的珊瑚礁：来自极端的见解”，以关于这些独特而重要的生态系统的越来越多的文献为基础，提供了对边缘珊瑚礁生命模式和过程的更深入理解系统，以及这些见解可能对我们快速变化的世界中热带珊瑚礁的未来产生的影响。