**4. Discussion**

While many reefs globally are in decline due to anthropogenic factors, coral cover on the reefs in Hawai'i remained stable from 1999–2012 [10]. Returning to the Malauka'a fringing reef provided an opportunity to explore decadal change in coral cover across an entire 600-meter reef. Results of this study revealed resilience and stability at the Malauka'a fringing reef over the past 18 years compared to other reefs across the Hawaiian islands. We predict the reef will show the same resilience as most reefs in Kane'ohe Bay through maintaining high coral cover in the face of climate change. ¯

#### *4.1. Abiotic and Biotic Changes*

During the 18 years between the two survey periods, corals at the study site experienced two consective bleaching events (i.e., 2014 and 2015). Seawater temperatures during these periods exceeded 31 ◦C for several days with cumulative heating of five degree heating weeks (DHW) in 2014 and 12 DHW in 2015 [11]. Between 2000 and 2018, daily average temperatures increased by 0.96 ◦C in Kane'ohe Bay, indicating higher levels of temperature stress in 2018 compared to 2000. ¯

The significant decrease in percent cover of mixed sand indicates the proportion of live benthic cover expanded between surveys.
