Taxon‐Specific Loss in Scleractinian Living Coral Area Following a Bleaching Event Is Linked to Reef Structural Decline in the Central Red Sea

ABSTRACT Marine heatwaves are increasing in frequency and intensity worldwide, triggering coral bleaching events. While colony and community scale consequences of bleaching have been well documented, its consequence on reef structural complexity remains comparatively less studied. Using Structure‐from‐Motion (SfM), colony fate tracking of hermatypic scleractinians, and a cross‐scale, sequential approach, this study linked in situ thermal stress to coral colony‐scale bleaching and mortality and reef‐scale structural change during the 2023 bleaching event in the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea. Taxon‐specific bleaching thresholds were consistent with regional bleaching alert levels; however, ecological risk varied substantially among reefs. We further support that the relationship between thermal stress and change in reef‐building coral colony area is taxon‐dependent, and that bleaching‐driven coral mortality can rapidly alter reef structural complexity, with potential consequences for ecosystem function. This study represents the first mechanistic assessment of coral resilience across biological scales in the central Red Sea, and provides new insight into reef structural persistence under accelerating climate change.