In this book, contributors from diversebackgrounds take a first step toward an integrated view of reefs and thesignificance of their recent decline. More than any other earth system, coralreefs sit at a disciplinary crossroads. Most recently, they have reachedanother crossroads - fundamental changes in their bio-physical structuregreater than those of previous centuries or even millennia. Effectivestrategies to mitigate recent trends will require an approach that embraces themyriad perspectives from across the scientific landscape, but will also need amechanism to transform scientific understanding into social will and politicalimplementation.