Coral reefs are the most productive ecosystems supporting a wide variety of marine biodiversity. Scleractiuian corals are often recognized as potential environmental indicators because of their rapid and significant response to changes in physico-chemical factors such as sea-surface temperature (SST) and alkalinity. As corals have a slow growth rate, growing only a few centimetres per year, theyhave been exposed to various environmental changes which are probably imprinted in their structural forms. Analysis of elemental ratios such ~(18)O/~(16)O, ~(13)C/~(12)C, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca, Cd/Ca, Mn/Ca, Pb/Ca and X-ray studies of corals provide us valuable information on historical records of SST, salinity, nutrients upwelling, El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and even terrestrial run-offs. Further, thelong-term history of living reef organisms provides an opportunity to understand the evolutionary and ecological processes over extended time-frames not available to modern ecology over years or decades.
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