Self-generated oxygen limitation drives coral outcomes during marine heatwaves

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.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{elkhaled2026selfgenerated,
  title = {{Self-generated oxygen limitation drives coral outcomes during marine heatwaves}},
  author = {Y. C. El-Khaled and H. H. Khan and S. G. Klein and N. Garcias-Bonet and D. Maity and S. Dighe and T. Mukha and A. K. Kushwaha and F. Wardani and M. Oulghelou and M. S. Dhillon and S. Truman and F. C. Garcia and M. D. Johnson and M. Fox and C. M. Duarte and S. Carvalho and D. Suggett and R. S. Peixoto and M. Parsani and T. T. Truscott},
  howpublished = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.64898/2026.10.08.757541},
  url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757541v1},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Self-generated oxygen limitation drives coral outcomes during marine heatwaves
AU  - Y. C. El-Khaled
AU  - H. H. Khan
AU  - S. G. Klein
AU  - N. Garcias-Bonet
AU  - D. Maity
AU  - S. Dighe
AU  - T. Mukha
AU  - A. K. Kushwaha
AU  - F. Wardani
AU  - M. Oulghelou
AU  - M. S. Dhillon
AU  - S. Truman
AU  - F. C. Garcia
AU  - M. D. Johnson
AU  - M. Fox
AU  - C. M. Duarte
AU  - S. Carvalho
AU  - D. Suggett
AU  - R. S. Peixoto
AU  - M. Parsani
AU  - T. T. Truscott
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - bioRxiv
DO  - 10.64898/2026.10.08.757541
UR  - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757541v1
AB  - 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.
ER  -

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