Marine heatwaves and coral reefs

Over a decade of careful monitoring, we have documented the impacts of a globally unprecedented heatwave on Kiritimati’s corals, reef fishes, habitat complexity and more. We are now focused on understanding how coral reefs recover from such mass mortality events, following all of these reef components as well as the recruitment of new corals. Our work on Kiritimati takes place at our long-term monitoring sites, established in 2007, which include reefs near villages and infrastructure subjected to local anthropogenic disturbances and reefs at the remote end of the atoll that were near-pristine prior to the heatwave. To learn more check out our Kiritimati website.