Severe Heat Stress Resulted in High Coral Mortality on Maldivian Reefs following the 2015–2016 El Niño Event

Coral cover worldwide has been declining due to heat stress caused by climate change. Here we report the impacts of 2015–2016 El Niño mass coral bleaching event on reefs located central and northern atolls Maldives. We surveyed six reef sites in Alifu (Ari) Baa (South Maalhosmadulu) Atolls using replicate 20 m benthic photo transects at two depths per site. Live recently dead identified from images differed between depth. Recently corals average made up 33% assemblage shallow 24% deep sites. This mortality was significantly lower massive than branching corals, reaching an only 6% compared 41%, respectively. The best predictors live were depth morphology, with a greater percentage corals. same described prevalence coral, but showed inverse trends coral. However, there high variability among sites, which could be attributed additional local stressors. resulting mortalities, such as ones reported here, are particular concern for small island nations like Maldives, reliant reefs.