Biogeography and Change among Regional Coral Communities across the Western Indian Ocean
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Coral reefs are biodiverse ecosystems structured by abiotic and biotic factors operating across many spatial scales. Regional-scale interactions between climate change, biogeography and fisheries management remain poorly understood. Here, we evaluated large-scale patterns of coral communities in the western Indian Ocean after a major coral bleaching event in 1998. We surveyed 291 coral reef sites in 11 countries and over 30° of latitude between 2004 and 2011 to evaluate variations in coral communities post 1998 across gradients in latitude, mainland-island geography and fisheries management. We used linear mixed-effect hierarchical models to assess total coral cover, the abundance of four major coral families (acroporids, faviids, pocilloporids and poritiids), coral genus richness and diversity, and the bleaching susceptibility of the coral communities. We found strong latitudinal and geographic gradients in coral community structure and composition that supports the presence of a high coral cover and diversity area that harbours temperature-sensitive taxa in the northern Mozambique Channel between Tanzania, northern Mozambique and northern Madagascar. Coral communities in the more northern latitudes of Kenya, Seychelles and the Maldives were generally composed of fewer bleaching-tolerant coral taxa and with reduced richness and diversity. There was also evidence for continued declines in the abundance of temperature-sensitive taxa and community change after 2004. While there are limitations of our regional dataset in terms of spatial and temporal replication, these patterns suggest that large-scale interactions between biogeographic factors and strong temperature anomalies influence coral communities while smaller-scale factors, such as the effect of fisheries closures, were weak. The northern Mozambique Channel, while not immune to temperature disturbances, shows continued signs of resistance to climate disturbances and remains a priority for future regional conservation and management actions.
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Reefs further south in the Northern Mozambique Channel appear to have avoided conditions that trigger bleaching and still support bleaching-susceptible coral taxa.
“However, reefs further south within the NMC seem to have evaded environmental conditions triggering bleaching events and still support bleaching-susceptible coral taxa (McClanahan et al. 2007a(McClanahan et al. , 2014)).”
From Population genetics of the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix reveals patterns of strong genetic differentiation in the Western Indian Ocean (2021) · cites this paper as McClanahan et al. 2014
Complex oceanographic patterns influence coral reef communities because coral species differ in sensitivity to temperature anomalies: the East African Coast Current along Tanzania and Kenya has more frequent temperature fluctuations, while the South Equatorial Current stabilises temperature in the region.
“These complex oceanographic patterns also influence coral reef communities, because of the differences in sensitivity to temperature anomalies between coral species: the EACC along the coast of Tanzania and Kenya shows more frequent temperature fluctuations, while the SEC has a stabilising influence on the temperature in the region (McClanahan et al. 2011(McClanahan et al. , 2007b(McClanahan et al”
From Population genetics of the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix reveals patterns of strong genetic differentiation in the Western Indian Ocean (2021) · cites this paper as McClanahan et al. 2014
The higher allelic richness in the Northern Mozambique Channel is consistent with the region's higher coral cover and diversity, which can be explained by current patterns (inflow of the South Equatorial Current transporting larvae), high connectivity from mixing in Northern Mozambique Channel eddies, and lower environmental stress than north of the region.
“These results are consistent with the higher coral cover and diversity found in the NMC, which can be explained by current patterns (such as the inflow of the SEC transporting larvae) combined with the high connectivity caused by mixing in the NMC eddies, and lower environmental stress than north of the NMC (McClanahan et al. 2014;Obura 2012).”
From Population genetics of the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix reveals patterns of strong genetic differentiation in the Western Indian Ocean (2021) · cites this paper as McClanahan et al. 2014
These oceanographic patterns could explain the higher abundance of temperature-sensitive taxa such as acroporids and pocilloporids in the Northern Mozambique Channel, although variable bleaching did occur there.
“This could explain the higher abundance of temperature-sensitive taxa, such as acroporids and pocilloporids in the NMC, although variable levels of bleaching did occur in this region, for instance in Mayotte (Eriksson et al. 2012;Marshall and Baird 2000;McClanahan et al. 2014;Obura 2012;Obura et al. 2018).”
From Population genetics of the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix reveals patterns of strong genetic differentiation in the Western Indian Ocean (2021) · cites this paper as McClanahan et al. 2014
The Northern Mozambique Channel is considered a priority region for conservation and management because it has high coral cover and species richness, probably caused by historical high connectivity and low or geographically variable environmental stress.
“The NMC is considered a priority region for conservation and management efforts, as this region is high in coral cover and species richness, probably caused by historical high connectivity and low or geographically variable levels of environmental stress (McClanahan et al. 2007a(McClanahan et al. , 2014;;Obura 2012).”
From Population genetics of the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix reveals patterns of strong genetic differentiation in the Western Indian Ocean (2021) · cites this paper as McClanahan et al. 2014
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Cowry Shell Money and Monsoon Trade: The Maldives in Past Globalizations
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- Authors
- McClanahan, T. R., Ateweberhan, M., Darling, E. S., Graham, N. A. J., & Muthiga, N. A.
- Affiliations
- Wildlife Conservation Society (US)
- Simon Fraser University (CA)
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (AU)
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2014-04-09
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- e93385
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3981710
- OpenAlex
- W2139494677
- Cited by
- 89
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 11
- FWCI
- 8.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Warwick Research Archive Portal (University of Warwick) (acceptedVersion)
- ResearchOnline at James Cook University (James Cook University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Summit (Simon Fraser University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Leverhulme Trust
- Department for International Development
- Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine Biology and Ecology Research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Coastal and Marine Management
- Keywords
- coral community structure, climate change impacts on coral reefs, latitudinal gradient, fisheries management, fishery closure, coral cover, coral diversity, bleaching susceptibility, Mozambique Channel, Western Indian Ocean, coral conservation
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Data Collection, Linear Models, Indian Ocean, Anthozoa, Biodiversity, Coral Reefs, Phylogeography
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