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Data from: Expert priorities for coral reef conservation under climate change: A discrete choice experiment

Vinton, Anna12; Arvai, Joe2; Zheng, Difeng2; Kenkel, Carly2; Marcos, Aitor23

Published Oct 22, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4rd

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Abstract

Conservation management in the Anthropocene requires resolving trade-offs between climate mitigation and ecosystem intervention. As the first major ecosystem approaching climate-driven collapse, coral reefs offer crucial early lessons for global conservation efforts. We surveyed 136 coral reef experts globally using a discrete choice experiment, forcing realistic budget allocation decisions across conservation strategies. Biobanking—preserving coral genetic material—emerged as the top intervention priority, with surveyed experts preferring combined live banking and cryopreservation. Restoration ranked second, with scenarios lacking active intervention strongly disfavored. This consensus transcended regional and professional boundaries, with Caribbean experts particularly favoring active restoration following recent mass bleaching. Experts converged on allocating 60% of budgets to traditional management and 40% to novel interventions, empirically rejecting either/or thinking that has polarized conservation debates. These findings provide quantitative guidance for global frameworks including the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, demonstrating that sustainability requires both addressing root causes and active interventions to maintain ecosystem function in the face of persistent threats. The dominance of biobanking signals a paradigm shift from reactive protection to proactive preservation of evolutionary potential—essential insurance for safeguarding coral reefs under accelerating climate change.