Exploring and Safeguarding the Marine Ecosystems of the Florida Keys. A Special Collection dedicated to Dr. Billy Causey, John Halas, and Dr. Walter C. Jaap

This Special Collection honors Dr. Billy Causey, John Halas, and Dr. Walter C. Jaap, leaders who united science and stewardship to protect Florida Keys reefs. Causey advanced science-based policy and helped secure landmark protections like the Tortugas Ecological Reserve; Halas engineered the permanent embedment mooring system adopted worldwide to prevent anchor damage; and Jaap built foundational long-term datasets and linked bleaching to El Niño, shaping modern monitoring and restoration. We build on their legacy by advancing research that turns ecological insight into durable conservation outcomes.

The Florida Keys, including adjacent regions like Florida Bay and Biscayne Bay, represent a unique and ecologically rich marine environment. These ecosystems host diverse habitats such as coral reefs, seagrass beds, and sponge communities that support a wide range of marine life. However, this region faces increasing threats from climate change, pollution, habitat degradation, and extreme weather events. Understanding the complex interactions within these ecosystems is vital for their conservation and sustainable management. Research in this area provides essential insights into the health and resilience of marine habitats that are crucial for local biodiversity, fisheries, and coastal protection. This Research Topic is directly linked to the Florida Keys Marine Science Conference and Workshop, scheduled for October 27–30, 2025, in Coral Springs, Florida, offering a platform to showcase cutting-edge research and foster collaboration.

This Research Topic aims to address the urgent need to explore and safeguard the marine ecosystems of the Florida Keys through a comprehensive understanding of their structure, function, and vulnerability. We seek to bring together research that not only advances fundamental ecological knowledge but also informs practical approaches for conservation, restoration, and management. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and highlighting innovative methods, this collection hopes to generate actionable strategies to enhance ecosystem resilience, mitigate anthropogenic impacts, and support sustainable use of marine resources. Linked with the Florida Keys Marine Science Conference and Workshop in October 2025, this initiative will help disseminate new findings and encourage community engagement to promote science-based policies and interventions that secure the long-term health of this vital marine region.

We invite submissions that investigate any aspect of the Florida Keys marine ecosystems, from basic ecological research to applied conservation and management. Specific themes of interest include, but are not limited to: coral reef ecology, seagrass and sponge communities, shallow water habitats, restoration techniques, impacts of disturbance events (e.g., storms, bleaching), biodiversity assessments, water quality monitoring, fisheries dynamics, and climate change effects. Manuscripts focusing on ecosystem resilience, connectivity, and adaptive strategies are especially welcome. We accept original research articles, comprehensive reviews, perspectives, and methodological papers. This Research Topic is closely linked to the Florida Keys Marine Science Conference and Workshop (October 27–30, 2025, Coral Springs, Florida), providing an excellent opportunity to align submissions with ongoing discussions and collaborative efforts. Authors should select the topic that best fits their work; the editorial team will group submissions into coherent thematic sections for clarity and focus.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Florida Keys, marine ecosystems, coral reefs, restoration ecology, environmental variability, biodiversity, seagrasses, ecosystem resilience, fisheries, water quality

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.