Unprecedented 2020 coral bleaching reveals unexpected taxa-specific responses in the central Red Sea.

ABSTRACT: Sea surface temperature of the Red Sea has increased by up to 0.45 °C per decade over the last 30 years, and coral bleaching events are becoming more frequent. A reef bleaching event was observed in October 2020, whereby some parts of the Red Sea experienced more than 12 °C-weeks. The study sites spanned nearly three degrees of latitude along the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea and were surveyed via structure-from-motion photogrammetry in October 2020 during the bleaching event and again in October 2022 to track the fate of the coral colonies. The in situ temperatures in 2020 ranged from 31.9 °C to 32.7 °C, and overall, 65% of the colonies exhibited some bleaching. Nearly half of the colonies exhibited partial or complete mortality in 2022, although 18% exhibited complete mortality. Approxim

SUBMITTER: Dunn N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12419625 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature