The implications of recurrent disturbances within the world's hottest coral reef

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 3years. 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. •We compared temporal changes in coral communities around the Arabian peninsula.•Coral communities shaped by local environmental conditions and disturbance history•Persian Gulf reefs dominated by stress-tolerant corals and resilient to disturbances•Musandam and Gulf of Oman reefs dominated by stress-sensitive corals•Harsh conditions and ongoing disturbances likely to lead to novel coral assemblages