Monitoring plays an important role in understanding the impact of bleaching on coral reefs, and in applying resilience principles to the design of MPAs.
Monitoring can be used to:

• determine the impact of coral bleaching on local resources by monitoring the extent, severity, and recovery of corals during mass bleaching events;

• identify areas where corals are resistant or resilient to coral bleaching so these areas can be protected when designing resilient networks of MPAs;

• determine the success of management actions intended to build resilience into the design of MPAs; and

• identify the socioeconomic impacts of bleaching.