Impacts of the 2014–2017 global bleaching event on a protected remote atoll in the Western Indian Ocean

The third global bleaching event caused prolonged elevated sea surface temperatures from 2014 to 2017 that heavily impacted coral reefs worldwide. This study determines changes in benthic community following this bleaching event at a remote UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Western Indian Ocean. Aldabra Atoll offers a rare opportunity to study global impacts in the absence of local anthropogenic stressors. Analysis of satellite-derived temperature data indicated that Aldabra was exposed to the highest bleaching-risk intensity of the past 20 years during this bleaching event. Bleaching-risk conditions lasted from December 2015 to June 2016 close to the 4 °C-week threshold, when bleaching is expected. Benthic cover was established pre- and post-bleaching from 21 transects across two reef locations (lagoonal reef, 2 m depth; seaward reef, 5 and 15 m depth). From a pre-bleaching benthic community in which living corals and epilithic algal matrix (EAM) predominated, Aldabra’s reefs switched to an EAM-dominated community 8 months after bleaching. Soft corals declined by 93% of their overall pre-bleaching cover to < 1%. Although overall hard-coral cover was also reduced, the decline varied among depths and might indicate local adaptations of the lagoonal reef, due to greater variability in sea surface temperature compared to the seaward reef. With the exception of Isopora palifera, all taxomorphic coral groups experienced a decline following bleaching. Overall, Rhytisma experienced a near-complete extirpation, Acroporids (excluding I. palifera) and branching Poritids declined by more than 80%, Merulinidae lost ca. 60% of their pre-bleaching cover, while massive Poritids cover slightly decreased. Aldabra’s benthic community therefore underwent substantial changes following the 2014–2017 bleaching event and showed that live coral cover declines significantly even in protected areas isolated from local anthropogenic pressures.