3D assessment of a coral reef at Lalo Atoll reveals varying responses of habitat metrics following a catastrophic hurricane.

ABSTRACT: Extreme disturbances such as hurricanes can cause reductions in coral cover and three-dimensional (3D) structural complexity of coral reefs. We examined changes in structural complexity utilizing 3D reconstruction of a coral-reef site before and after Hurricane Walaka passed through Lalo of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This event resulted in complete destruction of the coral-reef habitat, with dramatic changes in benthic cover from pre-hurricane tabulate coral to post-hurricane rubble. Rugosity and mean slope decreased after the hurricane, while structural complexity, captured by vector ruggedness measure (VRM), showed resolution-specific responses. This metric captured the structural complexity of rubble at a high raster resolution of 1 cm and that of tabulate coral at lower resolut

SUBMITTER: Pascoe KH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8187721 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature