Recovery of the microbiome of massive reef-building Porites corals was studied following experimental removal of the overgrowing green macroalga Halimeda macrophysa. Changes in the microbiome of algal-removed and adjacent healthy-looking tissue of coral colonies were determined over 40 days using 16S amplicon sequencing.

Interactions between macroalgae and corals are omnipresent on eutrophied and overfished reefs worldwide. Contact with macroalgae can disrupt corals and their microbiomes through diverse mechanisms, including shading, abrasion, and the release of algal exudates. However, changes in the coral microbiome after algal contact ceases have not been studied. We investigated the recovery of the microbiome of massive reef-building Porites corals (East-coast Kalimantan, Berau, Indonesia, near Derawan Island) following experimental removal of the overgrowing green macroalga Halimeda macrophysa. We followed changes in the microbiome of algal-removed and adjacent healthy-looking tissue of coral colonies over 40 days.