Long‐term changes in growth rates at the population level When examining the long‐term changes in growth rates per site, the Columbretes Islands presented a negative trend in linear extension ( r 2 = 0.717, p = 0.002) and calcification ( r 2 = 0.595, p = 0.009) between 2003 and 2012, and a positive trend in density ( r 2 = 0.635, p = 0.010) and calcification ( r 2 = 0.536, p = 0.025) between 2013 and 2021.
Long‐term changes in growth rates at the population level When examining the long‐term changes in growth rates per site, the Columbretes Islands presented a negative trend in linear extension ( r 2 = 0.717, p = 0.002) and calcification ( r 2 = 0.595, p = 0.009) between 2003 and 2012, and a positive trend in density ( r 2 = 0.635, p = 0.010) and calcification ( r 2 = 0.536, p = 0.025) between 2013 and 2021.
During the second period (2003–2012), both linear extension and calcification maintained a decreasing trend, coinciding with recurrent episodes of coral mortality and thermal anomalies reported between 2003 and 2006, and, to a lesser extent, between 2008 and 2012 (Kersting et al., 2013 ).
During the last period (2013–2021), linear extension stabilized and density and calcification increased, following an apparent trend of recovery, despite the increasing frequency of MHWs in the NW Mediterranean (Garrabou et al., 2022 ; Martínez et al., 2022 ).