Mapping Reef Change Following Mass Bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands: Driving a Spatially-Explicit Plan for Restoration

Mapping Reef Change Following Mass Bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands: Driving a Spatially-Explicit Plan for Restoration Mapping Reef Change Following Mass Bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands: Driving a Spatially-Explicit Plan for Restoration To measure changes to live coral and algal cover across the Hawaiian Islands between 2019 and 2020 using high-resolution airborne mapping techniques that will inform state-wide coral reef restoration efforts. Research Question(s) (i) What are the geographic and ecological patterns of live coral loss and survivorship across six main Hawaiian Islands, and how do these patterns relate to physical and socio-ecological factors including water depth and quality, reef accessibility, neighboring land use, and other factors? (ii) Where are the coral refugia havens of coral survivorship across six main Hawaiian islands as revealed in a pre- and post-marine heatwave mapping of live coral cover and 3D habitat? Where are the areas of heightened coral loss from the 2019 marine heatwave? (iii) Can the resulting maps of coral loss and survivorship be used to generate new coral reef restoration plans? Specifically, can maps of coral loss drive State and/or community restoration actions such as where to attempt coral outplanting?