Coral Reef Community Recovery Trajectories Vary by Depth Following a Moderate Heat Stress Event at Swains Island, American Samoa

The 2014-2017 global coral bleaching event caused mass coral mortality and reshaped benthic communities across the Pacific. Swains Island, a remote and uninhabited island within American Samoa, was exposed to moderate heat stress during this event. Temporal patterns in benthic cover and coral demography were monitored across 13 years straddling this heat stress event to assess the impacts across depth and the recovery trajectory.

Couch CS, Huntington B, Charendoff, JA et al2024. Coral reef community recovery trajectories vary by depth following a moderate heat stress event at Swains Island, American Samoa Mar Biol 171, 218.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-024-04533-z

Last updated by Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center on 10/28/2024

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