Coral cover and species responses to heat exposure vary across contemporary Western Atlantic reefs.

ABSTRACT: Ocean warming threatens the persistence of tropical corals and the biologically diverse ecosystems they sustain. While field-based studies on heat impact have predominantly focused on quantifying coral bleaching, a symptom of thermal stress, less attention has been given to understanding trends in coral mortality, a critical metric for assessing and predicting the long-term effects of rising temperatures. Consequently, the relationships between varying heat exposures and resultant coral cover changes remain poorly quantified. Such trends are challenging to establish in the Tropical and Subtropical Western Atlantic (TWA), because climate change impacts are compounded by local anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Additionally, many coral communities have already been substantially altered

SUBMITTER: Webb AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12764933 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature