Project Title: Coral Standing Biomass and Productivity on Reefs Project Description: Corals are central to the functioning of tropical reefs, forming the structural framework that supports an immense diversity of organisms. They play key roles in biogeochemical processes, including calcium carbonate deposition, carbon cycling, and nutrient regeneration—all of which are strongly influenced by the total mass of living coral tissue on the reef. Yet, unlike fish and other reef organisms, coral standing biomass has rarely been considered a critical ecological indicator or integrated into estimates of reef productivity. This gap limits our ability to accurately assess the role of corals in reef processes and constrains predictions of how ecosystem functioning may respond to future environmental pressures. The aim of this project is to address this gap by first estimating coral standing biomass and examining how it varies between tropical and subtropical environments. We propose to quantify coral biomass at different spatial scales by integrating colony-level measurements across taxa with their contribution to the reef, considering percent cover, colony size, and morphology. In a second step and based on existing models of coral allometric growth, we aim to identify the physiological and ecological principles underlying coral biomass accumulation to build a robust framework for quantifying coral productivity while acknowledging current limitations. Finally, biomass turnover will be evaluated under multiple scenarios of disturbance and recovery. We hypothesize that coral standing biomass, productivity, and turnover differ between tropical and subtropical systems, revealing fundamental differences in ecosystem functioning and contrasting trajectories during recovery.