title: The implications of recurrent disturbances within the world's hottest coral reef.
abstract: Determining how coral ecosystems are structured within extreme environments may provide insights into how coral reefs are impacted by future climate change. Benthic community structure was examined within the Persian Gulf, and adjacent Musandam and northern Oman regions across a 3-year period (2008-2011) in which all regions were exposed to major disturbances. Although there was evidence of temporal switching in coral composition within regions, communities predominantly reflected local environmental conditions and the disturbance history of each region. Gulf reefs showed little change in coral composition, being dominated by stress-tolerant Faviidae and Poritidae across the 3 years. In comparison, Musandam and Oman coral communities were comprised of stress-sensitive Acroporidae and Pocilloporidae; Oman communities showed substantial declines in such taxa and increased cover of stress-tolerant communities. Our results suggest that coral communities may persist within an increasingly disturbed future environment, albeit in a much more structurally simple configuration.
authors.affiliation: ICBAS, Porto University, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira no. 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; Emirates Diving Association, PO Box 33220 Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bento
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville Q4811, Australia. Electronic address: Andrew.hoey1@jcu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hoey
authors.affiliation: Experimental Marine Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biological Science, National University of Singapore, 117543 Singapore.
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Feary
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Burt
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D044822:Biodiversity; D057231:Climate Change; D057894:Coral Reefs; D005068:Eutrophication; D006358:Hot Temperature; D019156:Indian Ocean; D009850:Oman; D012621:Seasons; D014479:United Arab Emirates
keywords: Coral composition; Environmental variation; Novel ecosystems; Resilience; Stability; Stress-tolerant