Water column contributions to coral reef productivity: overcoming challenges of context dependence

Coral reefs are declining at an unprecedented rate. Effective management and conservation initiatives necessitate improved understanding of the drivers of production because the high rates found in these ecosystems are the foundation of the many services they provide. The water column is the nexus of coral reef ecosystem dynamics, and functions as the interface through which essentially all energy and nutrients are transferred to fuel both new and recycled production. Substantial research has described many aspects of water column dynamics, often focusing on specific components because water column dynamics are highly spatially and temporally context dependent. Although necessary, a cost of this approach is that these dynamics are often not well linked to the broader ecosystem or across systems. To help overcome the challenge of context dependence, we provide a comprehensive review of this literature, and synthesise it through the perspective of ecosystem ecology. Specifically, we provide a framework to organise the drivers of temporal and spatial variation in production dynamics, structured around five primary state factors. These state factors are used to deconstruct the environmental contexts in which three water column sub-food webs mediate 'new' and 'recycled' production. We then highlight critical pathways by which global change drivers are altering coral reefs via the water column. We end by discussing four key knowledge gaps hindering understanding of the role of the water column for mediating coral reef production, and how overcoming these could improve conservation and management strategies. Throughout, we identify areas of extensive research and those where studies remain lacking and provide a database of 84 published studies. Improved integration of water column dynamics into models of coral reef ecosystem function is imperative to achieve the understanding of ecosystem production necessary to develop effective conservation and management strategies needed to stem global coral loss.