High‐Resolution Satellite Imagery Reveals Landscape‐Scale Benthic Habitat Changes in a Turbid Coral Reef

ABSTRACT Coral reefs are under increasing threat from local and global stressors, resulting in changes to the composition and spatial structure of benthic habitats. This study uses high‐spatial resolution satellite imagery and landscape metrics to analyse changes to the shallow, turbid reef at Sebastião Gomes on the Abrolhos Bank in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean between 2010 and 2024. Benthic habitats were classified using a Random Forest model, which was trained using in situ observations and the following predictors: reflectance bands, spectral indices, texture metrics and satellite‐derived bathymetry from WorldView‐2 and WorldView‐3 imagery. This produced an overall classification accuracy of 91.9% (2010) and 88.3% (2024), although these values should be interpreted in the light of the temporal limitations of the dataset. Change detection analyses revealed a 77.1% decline in coral‐dominated habitats over 14 years, accompanied by a 25.4% increase in macroalgae and a 173.4% increase in zoanthids. This suggests a shift away from coral dominance. Landscape metrics revealed a spatial reorganisation of the reef. Coral habitats showed reductions in class area and largest patch size, as well as increased fragmentation and greater spatial isolation. In contrast, algal habitats expanded in a manner consistent with patch coalescence and spatial consolidation. This resulted in increasingly homogeneous benthic landscapes. Zoanthids displayed intermediate behaviour, expanding into newly available substrates without forming extensive, continuous patches. By integrating classification, change detection and landscape metrics, this study provides a comprehensive, spatially explicit assessment of reef structural change. The results highlight not only the loss of coral dominance, but also the reconfiguration of spatial complexity, which are critical for reef resilience and recovery after disturbance. This framework demonstrates the value of combining remote sensing and landscape ecology to monitor and interpret environmental change in turbid coral reef systems, supporting the development of spatially informed conservation and management strategies.