Table 1 Eligibility criteria
Include | Exclude |
|---|---|
Population | |
All tropical reef-building coral species (hermatypic scleractinian species, Millepora sp., Heliopora sp. and Tubipora sp.) living in the shallow and the mesophotic zones | Cold-water or deep-water corals Ahermatypic corals Free-living zooxanthellae (not as symbionts in corals) Studies conducted in coral reefs but not about corals (e.g. about coral reef fishes) |
Exposure | |
All natural, geogenic and synthetic chemicals coming from human activities. Studies assessing the impact of human activities (e.g. river discharge, distance to a dump or to an industrial effluent source, tourism) on corals without reference to a chemical | Studies assessing the impact of chemicals coming from natural sources (e.g. nutrients from guano) Studies assessing the impact of sedimentation per se or of physical disturbances on coral Marine debris, macro-plastics |
Comparator | |
Studies comparing population exposed to chemicals and population unexposed to chemicals Studies comparing population exposed to chemicals and population prior to exposure to chemicals Studies comparing population exposed to a range of concentrations/levels of chemicals | |
Outcome | |
All outcomes related to tropical reef-building corals, from molecular level (e.g. gene expression, enzyme activities) to community level (e.g. coral cover, bioerosion, species richness) (Fig. 1) Studies reporting evidence of ingestion, concentration or accumulation/uptake of chemicals in the population studied without reporting health consequences Studies assessing impacts on coral microbiome/symbionts | |
Language | |
All articles written in English or French (in case a title or an abstract could not be found in English or French, it will be directly screened on full-text) | |
Type of document | |
Journal article, book chapter, report, conference proceeding, Ph.D. or M.Sc. thesis | Presentation, editorial material, letter or news item, conference or meeting abstract, poster |
Type of content | |
In-situ or ex situ studies | Reviews and meta-analyses, modelling studies without experimental data |