{
  "abstract": "Marine heatwaves cause massive, but often patchy coral bleaching. Why neighboring colonies often respond differently remains unresolved. Here, we show that interactions between metabolic demand and flow-mediated resupply generate heterogeneous oxygen microenvironments inside branching corals under heat stress. During the 2023 and 2024 Red Sea heatwaves, high-frequency in situ measurements revealed hypoxic to near-anoxic interbranch conditions despite well-oxygenated surrounding seawater. In 2023, neighboring colonies developed divergent oxygen regimes preceding paling and bleaching; in 2024, stronger and earlier thermal stress was associated with recurrent nighttime near-anoxia before tissue disintegration and mortality. A physics-based three-dimensional fluid-metabolism model reproduced these patterns. Oxygen depletion and coral impacts emerged when metabolic oxygen demand exceeded flow-mediated resupply. Organism-scale variability in oxygen regimes may explain divergent coral fate under shared heatwave exposure.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "King Abdullah University of Science and Technology"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 21,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Y. C. El-Khaled"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. H. Khan"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. G. Klein"
    },
    {
      "name": "N. Garcias-Bonet"
    },
    {
      "name": "D. Maity"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Dighe"
    },
    {
      "name": "T. Mukha"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. K. Kushwaha"
    },
    {
      "name": "F. Wardani"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Oulghelou"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. S. Dhillon"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Truman"
    },
    {
      "name": "F. C. Garcia"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. D. Johnson"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Fox"
    },
    {
      "name": "C. M. Duarte"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Carvalho"
    },
    {
      "name": "D. Suggett"
    },
    {
      "name": "R. S. Peixoto"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Parsani"
    },
    {
      "name": "T. T. Truscott"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1sb9y7atqne63.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.08.757541",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757541v1.full",
  "id": "1sb9y7atqne63",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757541v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "ecology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2303|Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221088858",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757541v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-08",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1sb9y7atqne63.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:26:47Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.08.757541",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757541v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:ecology",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Self-generated oxygen limitation drives coral outcomes during marine heatwaves",
  "title_text": "Self-generated oxygen limitation drives coral outcomes during marine heatwaves",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:26:47Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1sb9y7atqne63",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}