Coral reefs are one of the most biodiverse marine environments but they are under sustained pressure from multiple human impacts such as climate change, overfishing and coastal land-use changes. In response to these anthropogenic stressors, coral cover, and structural complexity have declined dramatically on many reefs in recent decades. Relatively isolated reefs can recover rapidly following natural disturbances if ecological processes such as coral recruitment and herbivory have not been compromised by previous human disturbances.