Scholar

Lorenzo Álvarez‐Filip

H-index: 34
Environmental science 67%
Geography 19%
natureportfolio.nature.com
Over 70% of coral reefs in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean are projected to be in a state of erosion by 2040, increasing to nearly all reefs in 2100 if warming exceeds 2 °C above preindustrial levels, a study in Nature suggests. go.nature.com/48m9Y8F 🌊 🧪
This is figure 2, which shows reef accretion potential across western Atlantic reefs.
globalchangebio.bsky.social
Dispersal Ability Reduces Thermal Specialization and Prevents Climate‐Driven Extinctions in a Neotropical Rainforest

buff.ly/nNuQFG7
science.org
The global marine heatwaves of 2023 were unprecedented in their intensity, persistence, and scale, according to a new Science study.

The findings provide insights into the region-specific drivers of these events, linking them to broader changes in the planet’s climate system. scim.ag/4lOzfwm
Across warming seas, record-breaking marine heatwaves in 2023 underscored the growing vulnerability of ecosystems and human livelihoods. These events contributed to fishery losses and revealed region-specific drivers, including enhanced shortwave radiation, oceanic advection, and changes in upper-ocean stratification. Together, these mechanisms illustrate the intensifying influence of climate variability on ocean heat extremes.
texasscience.bsky.social
New research challenges the long-held belief that coral reefs are “oases” in marine deserts. While among the world’s most productive ecosystems, their existence in nutrient-deprived oceans is the exception rather than the rule. @gobyone.bsky.social @utmsi.bsky.social
cns.utexas.edu/news/researc...
Idea of Coral Reefs as Oases in Marine Deserts May Be Mistaken
New research from Simon Brandl at The University of Texas at Austin challenges a long-held belief about coral reefs.
cns.utexas.edu
gobyone.bsky.social
Heard of "Darwin's paradox"? It refers to Charles Darwin's observation that coral reefs are wildly productive despite occurring in nutrient-poor tropical oceans. Reefs are, so the story goes, oases in marine deserts 🏝️...

Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...

🌐
🦑🧪

🧵⬇️
lalvarezfilip.bsky.social
In all of them, we found that strategically conducting restoration activities near or bordering existing patches of the target species can enhance the structural connectivity of the landscape, while also increasing the potential for fertilization between the wild population and outplanted specimens.
lalvarezfilip.bsky.social
Our models show that considering the spatial distribution of the focal species is crucial in restoration activities. We tested our models under three different reef scenarios (degraded, healthy, and randomly distributed).
lalvarezfilip.bsky.social
Specifically, we propose a framework that integrates image analysis of commercial drone data and spatial modelling based on landscape ecology theory to identify restoration sites that structurally connect patches of a key reef-building coral across ecologically meaningful scales.
icrs.bsky.social
1/6 Call for session proposals

16th International Coral Reef Symposium, 19–24th July 2026, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.
Session proposal deadline: Sunday 15th June 2025.
Details and submission link at www.icrs2026.nz/call-for-ses...
Call for Session Proposals
www.icrs2026.nz
ipbes.net
According to data from Coral Reef Watch, the worst global bleaching event on record has now hit more than 80% of the planet’s reefs, prompting scientists to warn that we are in “uncharted territory.”

Read more from @readfearn.bsky.social in @theguardian.com:

www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🌍🧪
Tracing the worst coral bleaching event in recorded history – video
Two years into the worst coral bleaching event on record, more than 80% of the planet's reefs have been affected
www.theguardian.com
profterryhughes.bsky.social
Update on Trump’s savage anti-science agenda:

“The White House is ready to ask Congress to eliminate NOAA’s climate research centers and cut hundreds of federal and academic climate scientists who track and study human-driven global warming.”

www.science.org/content/arti...
lalvarezfilip.bsky.social
The hurricane impacts we report in this study occurred in 2020. Many may wonder whether Limones Reef withstood the 2023 bleaching event. The good news is that, unlike many other shallow reefs in the Caribbean, this reef still has a healthy population of A. palmata (although it underwent losses).
lalvarezfilip.bsky.social
One of our key findings relates to the role of phenotypic plasticity. Colonies in the most exposed environments (reef crest) developed morphological attributes that made them, and their patches, more prone to resisting the increased energy levels during hurricanes.
nytimes.com
Some 1,900 leading researchers accused the Trump administration in an open letter on Monday of conducting a “wholesale assault on U.S. science” that could set back research by decades and that threatens the health and safety of Americans.
Trump Administration Has Begun a War on Science, Researchers Say
Nearly 2,000 scientists urged that Congress restore funding to federal agencies decimated by recent cuts.
www.nytimes.com
us.theconversation.com
“If those who speak Spanish as their second language are included, then the U.S. is the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world after Mexico.”

By ending Spanish-language communications, the White House ignores U.S. demographics: buff.ly/pTDH2iR

References

Fields & subjects

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