Table 1 Eligibility criteria
Include | Exclude |
|---|---|
Population: All tropical reef-building coral species (hermatypic scleractinian species, Millepora species, Heliopora species and Tubipora species) living in the shallow and the mesophotic zones. All developmental stages are considered (mobile planula, fixed polyp), as well as all coral compartments including dinoflagellates symbionts “in hospite” and microbiome | Cold-water or deep-water corals Ahermatypic corals Free-living dinoflagellates (not as symbionts in corals) Studies conducted in coral reefs but not about corals (e.g., about coral reef fishes) |
Exposure: All geogenic (e.g., trace metals) and synthetic chemicals (e.g., diuron) for which the exposure concentration is known Exposure to a chemical alone or in combination with another chemical | Studies assessing the impact of nutrients (e.g., nitrate) or eutrophication 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 in which exposure to a chemical cannot be dissociated from other physical disturbances (e.g., sedimentation/macroparticles) |
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 For chemicals where a solvent is necessary, exposition to the solvent only could be considered as an unexposed population | Studies comparing population exposed to a range of concentrations/levels of chemicals (absence of an unexposed population in the experiment) |
Outcome: All outcomes related to the health status of tropical reef-building corals, from the molecular (e.g., gene expression, enzyme activities) to the colony (e.g., photosynthesis, bleaching) and the population level (e.g., mortality rate) Studies assessing impacts on coral microbiome/symbionts | Studies reporting evidence of ingestion, concentration or accumulation/uptake of chemicals (bioaccumulation) |
Language: All articles written in English or French (in case a title or an abstract could not be found in English or French, it was directly screened on full-text) | |
Type of document: Journal article, book chapter, report, conference proceeding, PhD or MSc thesis | Presentation, editorial material, letter or news item, conference or meeting abstract, poster |
Type of content: In-situ or ex-situ experimental studies | Observational studies (field surveys), reviews and meta-analyses, modelling studies without experimental data |