Dead but not forgotten: complexity of Acropora palmata colonies increases with greater composition of dead coral

Coral reefs are highly biodiverse ecosystems that have declined due to natural and anthropogenic stressors. Researchers often attribute reef ecological processes to corals’ complex structure, but effective conservation requires disentangling the contributions of coral versus reef structures. Many studies assessing the relationships between reef structure and ecological dynamics commonly use live coral as a proxy for reef complexity, disregarding the contribution of dead coral skeletons to reef habitat provision or other biogeochemical reef dynamics. This study aimed to assess the contribution of dead coral to reef complexity by examining structural variations in live and dead Acropora palmata colonies. We used photogrammetry to reconstruct digital elevation models (DEMs) and orthomosaics of the benthic region immediately surrounding 10 A. palmata colonies. These reconstructions were used to quantify structural metrics, including surface rugosity, fractal dimension, slope, planform curvature, and profile curvature, as a function of benthic composition (i.e., live A. palmata, dead A. palmata, or non-A. palmata substrate). The results revealed that dead coral maintained more varied profile curvatures and higher fractal dimensions than live or non-coral substrate. Conversely, A. palmata colonies with a higher proportion of live coral displayed more uniform structure, with lower fractal dimensions and less variability in profile curvature measures. Other metrics showed no significant difference among substrate types. These findings provide novel insights into the structural differences between live and dead coral, and an alternative perspective on the mechanisms driving the observed structural complexity on reefs. Overall, our results highlight the overlooked potential contributions of dead coral to reef habitat provision, ecological processes, and other biogeochemical reef dynamics, and could have important implications for coral reef conservation.