Heat-driven functional extinction of Caribbean Acroporacorals from Florida’s Coral Reef

In 2023, a record-setting marine heat wave triggered the ninth mass coral bleaching event on Florida’s coral reef (Fcr). We examined spatial patterns of heat exposure along the ~560-kilometer length of Fcr and the mortality of two ecologically important, critically endangered reef-building corals. Sea surface temperatures were ≥31°c for an average of 40.7 days, leading to heat exposures 2.2- to fourfold higher than all prior years on record. In the Florida Keys and Dry tortugas, 97.8 to 100% of the Acropora palmata and Acropora cervicornis colonies died. Mortality was lower offshore southeast Florida (37.9%), reflecting cooler temperatures in this region. Since the late 1970s, multiple stressors had already reduced the ecological relevance of Acropora in Florida, but the 2023 heat wave marks their functional extinction from Fcr.