Coral and algal changes after the 1998 coral bleaching: Interaction with reef management and herbivores on Kenyan reefs

Published source details McClanahan T.R., Muthiga N.A. & Mangi S. (2001) Coral and algal changes after the 1998 coral bleaching: Interaction with reef management and herbivores on Kenyan reefs. Coral Reefs, 30, 667-676.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Designate a Marine Protected Area and prohibit all types of fishing and collection Action Link

Designate a Marine Protected Area and prohibit all types of fishing and collection

A replicated, before-and-after, site comparison study in 1997–1999 in 16 marine sites in coastal Kenya (McClanahan et al. 2001) found that protected areas that prohibited all types of fishing and collection had higher coral diversity compared to unprotected, heavily fished areas before a major beaching event, but there were widespread live coral declines in both protected and unprotected reefs after the strong 1998 El Niño event. Coral diversity was higher in protected areas compared to unprotected areas before the 1998 bleaching (reported as diversity index values) and was similar between protected and unprotected areas four months post-bleaching but the decline was higher in the protected sites (77% decline from 40% to 11% cover of benthic substrate) than in unprotected sites (44% decline from 21% to 11%). Soft coral decline was lower in protected sites (65% decline from 4% to 1%) than in unprotected sites (86% decline from 3% to 0.4%). Nine coral reef sites in four Marine Protected Areas (Malindi, Watamu National Parks, Mombasa and Kisite Marine National Parks) and seven sites in four non-protected reef sites, were selected. Sites were separated by 20–100m within each reef and 3–50 km between reefs and were distributed along ∼150 km of the coastline. Before and post-bleaching recovery was monitored in the 16 sites in 1997-1999 using 10m long transects.

(Summarised by: Silviu Petrovan)