Proximate environmental drivers of coral communities at Palmyra Atoll: Establishing baselines prior to removing a WWII military causeway

► We modeled scleractinian coral cover and community structure with environment at Palmyra Atoll. ► Coral cover showed a negative relationship with levels of fine sediment influx. ► Fine sediment influx was the optimal predictor of coral community structure. ► Removing an existing WWII military causeway could increase sedimentation on the reefs. ► We predict negative impacts to the reefs if sedimentation were to increase as a result.