Land-sea protection affects Red Sea biological communities of coral reefs over eight years of monitoring

Coral reefs, vital for their biodiversity and ecosystem services, face multiple threats, making marine protected areas (MPAs) crucial for their conservation. Spatial-temporal data was collected through recreational citizen science from 2007 to 2015 within the Red Sea by Scuba Tourism for the Environment (STE; www.steproject.org) biodiversity monitoring program. A subset of this data was used to analyze coral reef community structure variations across three land-based management levels (protected, intermediate, impacted) along Sinai Peninsula's Eastern coast from 2007 to 2014.Distinct community structures were identified between all levels of land-based management strategy and all target taxa were sighted throughout the study. Key taxa driving community variations differed among management areas and exhibited a general increase during the last years of the monitoring program. This research emphasizes the importance of integrating land-based elements into marine conservation planning within MPAs to enhance biodiversity and community stability.