ArticleScientific reports2019
Effects of bleaching-associated mass coral mortality on reef structural complexity across a gradient of local disturbance.
Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Leaning left: how turn bias and habitat complexity shape spatial cognition in a coral-reef fish.Animal cognition · 2026Article
- Persistent Legacy Effects of Marine Heatwaves on Coral Symbioses.Global change biology · 2026Article
- Call to action: climate change and health threats to the Pacific Islands.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Review
- Carbon pathways and trophic attributes are conserved in carnivorous reef fishes across a major human disturbance gradient.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- Morphological Composition Influences Redundancy, Complementarity and Ecological Relevance of Habitat Complexity Metrics in Simulated Coral Communities.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Quantifying coral reef accretion in a changing world: approaches, challenges and emerging opportunities.Cambridge prisms. Coastal futures · 2025Review
- Impacts of a prolonged marine heatwave and chronic local human disturbance on juvenile coral assemblages.PloS one · 2025Article
- Factors constraining natural recovery ofPeerJ · 2025Article
- Unprecedented 2020 coral bleaching reveals unexpected taxa-specific responses in the central Red Sea.PloS one · 2025Article
- Using Community Composition and Successional Theory to Guide Site-Specific Coral Reef Management.Global change biology · 2025Article
- Enhancing reef carbonate budgets through coral restoration.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Individual mangrove trees provide alternative reef fish habitat on backreefs.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Depth variation in benthic community response to repeated marine heatwaves on remote Central Indian Ocean reefs.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Emergent increase in coral thermal tolerance reduces mass bleaching under climate change.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Importance of depth and temperature variability as drivers of coral symbiont composition despite a mass bleaching event.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Dead but not forgotten: complexity ofPeerJ · 2023Article
- Review
- Marine protected areas do not buffer corals from bleaching under global warming.BMC ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Biodiversity of coral reef cryptobiota shuffles but does not decline under the combined stressors of ocean warming and acidification.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- 3D assessment of a coral reef at Lalo Atoll reveals varying responses of habitat metrics following a catastrophic hurricane.Scientific reports · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Structural complexity underpins the ecological functioning of coral reefs. However, rising ocean temperatures and associated coral bleaching threaten the structural integrity of these important ecosystems. Despite the increased frequency of coral bleaching events, few studies to date have examined changes in three-dimensional (3D) reef structural complexity following severe bleaching. The influence of local stressors on reef complexity also remains poorly understood. In the wake of the 2015-2016 El Niño-induced mass coral bleaching event, we quantified the effects of severe heat stress on 3D reef structural complexity across a gradient of local human disturbance. Using Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry we created 3D reconstructions of permanent reef plots and observed substantial declines in reef structural complexity, measured as surface rugosity and terrain ruggedness, and a detectable loss of habitat volume one year after the bleaching event. 3D reef complexity also declined with increasing levels of human disturbance, and with decreasing densities of branching and massive corals. These findings improve our understanding of the effects of local and global stressors on the structural foundation of coral reef ecosystems. In the face of accelerating climate change, mitigating local stressors may increase reef structural complexity, thereby heightening reef resilience to future bleaching events.
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