Coral Bleaching and Mortality in the Chagos Archipelago

Abstract

The atolls and coral banks of the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory) in the central Indian Ocean were severely affected by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) thermal event that started in 2015 and which lasted for nearly two years. On these reefs, coral mortality reduced scleractinian coral cover from 40%–50% to