Fluctuations in coral reef fish densities after environmental disturbances on the northern Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef around Lizard Island has suffered from severe tropical cyclones Ita (2014) and Nathan (2015) and a massive coral bleaching due to El Niño (2016). We compared fish density from before the disturbances to data collected after the disturbances. Overall, we recorded up to 68% declines in fish density after the environmental perturbations. Thus, environmental perturbations due to extreme climate events appear to have strong detrimental consequences for reef fish densities.