Extinction debt of coral associates
Coral associates experienced biodiversity loss multiple years after
disturbance to their foundational habitat, which coincides with loss of
richness in other ecosystems. Indeed, bleached and dead finger
coral habitats retained high levels of species richness for 13-19 months
after the bleaching disturbance occurred; in fact, species richness of
mobile macroinvertebrates considerably increased during this time
period. However, this trend was reversed by a significant loss of mobile
macroinvertebrate richness 19-25 months post-bleaching. During the final
survey of associated species, total Chao 1 estimated species richness on
dead corals was significantly lower relative to corals at earlier time
points, and relative to live corals at that time. Depending on how long
after our initial survey (June 2007) bleaching actually occurred, and
how long before our final survey (July 2011) corals disintegrated, we
estimate that it took between 32 and 49 months for the bleachedPocillopora to disintegrate and entirely disappear, driving the
species richness of associated fish and macroinvertebrates down even
further, possibly to zero as their habitat was lost.