Transformation of coral communities subjected to an unprecedented heatwave is modulated by local disturbance.

ABSTRACT: Corals are imminently threatened by climate change-amplified marine heatwaves. However, how to conserve coral reefs remains unclear, since those without local anthropogenic disturbances often seem equally or more susceptible to thermal stress as impacted ones. We disentangle this apparent paradox, revealing that the relationship between reef disturbance and heatwave impacts depends upon the scale of biological organization. We show that a tropical heatwave of globally unprecedented duration (~1 year) culminated in an 89% loss of hard coral cover. At the community level, losses depended on pre-heatwave community structure, with undisturbed sites, which were dominated by competitive corals, undergoing the greatest losses. In contrast, at the species level, survivorship of individual corals t

SUBMITTER: Baum JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11318656 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature