Here are some references you really ought to take the time to read in between trips to the trash to throw away reef-aquarium "references" full of bogus information and ill-thought out advice.

Suggestion: Become a member of the International Society for Reef Studies.  As part of the benefits of membership, you receive the journal, Coral Reefs.  There is more information in any one issue of this journal that can be used to create successful reef aquaria than in virtually all the "hobby" references combined.

Some that are particularly interesting I have marked in red.

Barton, A. D. and K. S. Casey. 2005. Climatological context for large-scale coral bleaching. Coral Reefs. 24:536-554.

Bellwood, D. R., T. P. Hughes, C. Folke and M. Nystrom. 2004. Confronting the coral reef crisis. Nature. 429:828-833.

Calvo, E., J. F. Marshall, C. Pelejero, M. T. McCulloch, M. K. Gagan and J. M. Lough. 2007. Interdecadal climate variability in the Coral Sea since 1708 A. D. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 248:190-201.

Chen, C. A. 1999. Analysis of scleractinian distribution in Taiwan indicating a pattern congruent with sea surface temperatures and currents: examples from Acropora and Faviidae corals. Zoological Studies. 38:119-129.

Cole, J. E., R. B. Dunbar, T. R. McClanahan and N. A. Muthiga. 2000. Tropical pacific forcing of decadal SST variability in the western Indian Ocean over the past two centuries. Science. 287:617-619.

Coles, S. L. 1997. Reef corals occurring in a highly fluctuating temperature environment at Fahal Island, Gulf of Oman (Indian Ocean). Coral Reefs. 16:269-272.

Coles, S. L. and P. L. Jokiel. 1977. Effects of temperature on photosynthesis and respiration in hermatypic corals. Marine Biology (Berlin). 43:209-216.

Coles, S. L. and P. L. Jokiel. 1978. Synergistic effects of temperature, salinity and light on the hermatypic coral Montipora verrucosa. Marine Biology (Berlin). 49:187-195.

Donner, S. D., T. R. Knutson and M. Oppenheimer. 2007. Model-based assessment of the role of human-induced climate in the 2005 Caribbean coral bleaching event. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104:5483-5488.

Dunbar, R. B., G. M. Wellington, M. W. Colgan and P. W. Glynn. 1994. Eastern Pacific sea surface temperature since 1600 A.D.: the [delta]18O record of climate variability in Galapagos corals. Paleoceanography. 9:291-315,illustr.

Dybas, C. L. 2006. On a collision course: ocean plankton and climate change. Bioscience. 56:642-646.

Harriott, V. J. and S. A. Banks. 2002. Latitudinal variation in coral communities in eastern Australia: a qualitative biophysical model of factors regulating coral reefs. Coral Reefs. :.

Hoegh-Guldberg, O. and M. Fine. 2004. Low Temperatures Cause Coral Bleaching. Coral Reefs. 23:444.

Hoegh-Guldberg, O., P. J. Mumby, A. J. Hooten, R. S. Steneck, P. Greenfield, E. Gomez, C. D. Harvell, P. F. Sale, A. J. Edwards, K. Caldiera, N. Knowlton, C. M. Eakin, R. Iglesias-Prieto, N. Muthiga, R. H. Bradbury, A. Dubi and M. E. Hatziolos. 2007. Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification. Science. 318:1737-1742.

Hughes, T. P., M. J. Rodrigues, D. R. Bellwood, D. Caccarelli, O. Hoegh-Guldberg, L. McCook, N. Moltschaniwskyj, M. S. Pratchett, R. S. Steneck and B. Willis. 2007. Phase shifts, herbivory, and the resilience of coral reefs to climate change. Current Biology. 17:360-365.

Kleypas, J. A., J. W. McManus and L. A. B. Menez. 1999. Environmental limits to coral reef development; where do we draw the line. American Zoologist. 39:146-159.

Lesser, M. P. 2007. Coral reef bleaching and global climate change: Can corals survive the next century? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104:5259-5260.

Lough, J. M. and D. J. Barnes. 1997. Centuries-long records of coral growth on the Great Barrier Reef. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Workshop Series. 23:149-157.

Lough, J. M. and D. J. Barnes. 1997. Several centuries of variation in skeletal extension, density and calcification in massive Porites colonies from the Great Barrier Reef: A proxy for seawater temperature and a background of variability against which to identify unnatural change. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 211:29-67.

Mumby, P. J., A. Hastings and H. J. Edwards. 2007. Thresholds and the reslience of Caribbean coral reefs. Nature. 450:98-101.

Quinn, T. M., F. W. Taylor and T. J. Crowley. 1993(1994). A 173 year stable isotope record from a tropical south Pacific coral. Quaternary Science Reviews. 12:407-418,illustr.

Quinn, T. M., T. J. Crowley, F. W. Taylor, C. Henin, P. Joannot and Y. Join. 1998. A multicentury stable isotope record from a New Caledonia coral: interannual and decadal sea surface temperature variability in the southwest Pacific since 1657 A.D. Paleoceanography. 13:412-426.

Steuber, T., M. Rauch, J.-P. Masse, J. Graaf and M. Malkoc. 2005. Low-latitude seasonality of Cretaceous temperatures in warm and cold episodes. Nature. 437:1431-1434.

Tudhope, A. W., D. W. Lea, G. B. Shimmield, C. P. Chilcott, T. P. Scoffin, A. E. Fallick and M. Jebb. 1997. Climatic records from massive Porites corals in Papua New Guinea: a comparison of skeletal Ba/Ca, skeletal [delta]18O and coastal rainfall. In: Lessions, H. A. and I. G. Macintyre. Eds. Proceedings of the eighth international coral reef symposium, Panama, June 24-29, 1996. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Balboa, Panama. pp. 1719-1723.

Zachos, J. C., G. R. Dickens and R. E. Zeebe. 2008. An early Cenozoic perspective on greenhouse warming and carbon cycle dynamics. Nature. 451:279-283.

Cheers, Ron

"The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind. The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man." Charles Darwin (1809-1882)