Download or read book A Characterization of a Southeast Florida Stony Coral Assemblage After a Disease Event written by Nicole K. Hayes and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coral reefs have declined globally due to anthropogenic stressors increasing the frequency and severity of bleaching and disease events. In 2014, a stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) outbreak occurred off the coast of southeast Florida and subsequently spread throughout the region. Data collected by the Southeast Florida Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project (SECREMP) were used to examine the regional impacts of the disease event on the Southeast Florida stony coral assemblage. A long-term annual monitoring project, SECREMP samples permanent sites along the Southeast Florida Reef Tract (SEFRT) from Miami-Dade County north to Martin County. Analysis of stony coral demographic data from 21 sites revealed regional SCTLD prevalence increased significantly, and significant region-wide declines in stony coral diversity and density were observed. From 2014 to 2018, species-specific susceptibility to the disease were evident, with Meandrina meandritesand Dichocoenia stokesiboth losing > 90% of all live tissue by 2016. The reef building, complexity-contributing species Montastraea cavernosaand Orbicellaspp. lost significant tissue (55% and 70% respectively) as a result of this disease event. Overall, up to 64% of all live tissue was lost and at least 11 of 28 total species were impacted by SCTLD. Of the colonies that suffered complete mortality, many were among the largest individuals in the dataset. Loss of large, sexually mature colonies lowers reproductive capabilities and thus severely inhibits the potential for recovery. Juvenile surveys showed many of the large, structurally complex species had little to no juveniles within the sample sites, while eurytopic generalist species made up more than 76% of all juveniles. This disease event resulted in acute mortality and altered ecosystem function to the point where recovery is uncertain. To facilitate recovery, local resource managers need to understand the severity of the disease outbreak on the coral assemblage and mitigate local anthropogenic stressors.
Download or read book Spatial and Temporal Trends of Southeastern Florida s Octocoral Comunity written by Alexandra Hiley and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Caribbean, local and global stressors have driven significant declines in scleractinian coral cover up to 80% in only three decades. Following these declines, phase shifts in benthic community composition have been reported. Shifts towards macroalgal dominance has been the most widely observed case, however, shifts towards octocoral and sponge dominance have also been reported. In Florida, USA, the Florida Reef Tract is an extensive barrier reef system that contains diverse assemblages of corals, sponges, fish, and other taxa. The Southeast Florida Reef Tract (SEFRT) within the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Conservation Area is the northern portion of this system and lies adjacent to the highly urbanized and populated South Florida coastline. Long-term decreases in stony coral cover have been reported for this region, as well as more recent and drastic changes resulting from the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease outbreak. With this recent significant loss in stony corals, octocorals have become a more abundant constituent of the SEFRT. Although multiple studies highlight the community composition of local stony corals as well as spatial and temporal changes in their cover, the same has yet to be investigated for the octocoral community. This study investigates spatial and temporal trends in octocoral density, community composition, colony height, and colony condition (i.e. bleaching and disease) from 2013-2018 on the SEFRT. Analyses indicate an increase in density and a decrease in colony height throughout the study period. Both bleaching and disease prevalence remained very low, likely at background levels, during a time period when high levels of bleaching and disease were reported in the stony coral community. Finally, significant spatial variation of the community was observed throughout the SEFRT as density, colony height, and community composition of the outer reef was different from both the inner and middle reefs. These changes do not appear to correlate with events that resulted in the significant decline of stony corals (e.g. thermal anomalies, disease outbreak), suggesting that its drivers may not be similarly impacting the octocoral community. Evidence suggests that this high-latitude reef system can support a high-density octocoral community, but significant spatial variation in density and composition exists. With reefs experiencing dramatic phase shifts, it is imperative to understand the contribution of seemingly resistant organisms, like octocorals, to reef community dynamics.
Download or read book Data Collection for the Southeast Florida Action Network SEAFAN to Assess Reef Conditions Before and During the 2014 2015 Coral Disease Outbreak written by Esther Caroline Peters and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Southeast Florida Action Network (SEAFAN) received numerous reports from citizens, scientists, and agency staff concerning the loss of tissue from multiple stony coral species, beginning in the fall of 2015 as the corals were recovering from a severe bleaching event the previous summer, and continuing into 2016. A study to comprehensively understand the extent, severity, and contributions of diverse environmental factors that may have led to this event was initiated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Coral Reef Conservation Program. Many sources of data about the marine environment and biota in the northern Florida Reef Tract (north of Biscayne National Park to St. Lucie Inlet) were identified by staff and members of the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative’s Technical Advisory Committee in April 2016. The period to be examined included the years 2012‒2013 (when coral disease reports were minimal) and 2014‒2015 (peak reporting years). Research assistants contacted data owners (agencies, scientists, nongovernmental organizations) and obtained datasets. Information about the data (metadata) was entered into a spreadsheet and data files were catalogued and archived for future access. In the future, multiple analyses may be performed by statisticians and epidemiologists to examine the conditions that might have led to the disease outbreak and to identify data gaps and monitoring needs that can improve the conservation of these valuable coral reefs"--Executive Summary.
Download or read book Dynamics of Stony Coral and Octocoral Juvenile Assemblages Following Disturbance on Patch Reefs of the Florida Reef Tract written by Lucy A. Bartlett and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In January 2010, reefs in the Upper and Middle Florida Keys experienced prolonged exposure to extremely cold water temperatures, below lethal thresholds for many reef organisms including corals. We examined post-disturbance juvenile assemblages of stony corals and octocorals on eight patch reefs, four of which were categorized as high impact and four as low impact, based on declines in stony-coral cover following disturbance. We established permanent quadrats to conduct field surveys in spring and fall of 2012 and 2013. Overall, juvenile abundances of both stony corals and octocorals were greater on low-impact sites, suggesting that those sites had higher recruitment and juvenile survival than high-impact sites. Juvenile assemblages also showed a regional pattern, with more stony corals on Middle Keys sites and more octocorals on Upper Keys sites. The stony-coral juvenile assemblage was dominated by Siderastrea siderea (46%) and Porites astreoides (19%), whereas previously abundant species such as Orbicella annularis were nearly absent (
Download or read book Prioritizing the Largest Oldest Corals for Disease Intervention in a Coral Disease ravaged Area written by Alysha Brunelle and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coral diseases appear to be more devastating than ever before. When a virulent disease ravages a coral ecosystem, it can significantly change the populations demographics and cause local extinctions. Disease intervention response during such an event is impossible at a landscape scale, therefore priorities must be considered. Saving the largest, oldest colonies of reef-building species is a good choice due to their high fecundity and ecological function. Their size, as a proxy for age, is an indicator of their resistance to previous perturbations which may indicate higher fitness. Their size also provides habitat to many organisms and wave resistance in shallow water for shoreline protection. Saving these colonies is imperative to preserve present ecological functions and to prepare for future restoration. Condition assessments of ninety of the largest, healthiest-looking colonies in southeast Florida during the SCTLD were conducted recording live tissue area, colony size, and number of tissue isolates. Colonies were checked for disease and photographed monthly. If diseased, intervention was conducted which entailed covering diseased tissue margins with chlorinated epoxy and sometimes creating a trench in the skeleton between diseased and healthy tissue and filling it with chlorinated epoxy. Treatment success generally went down over time and varied by treatment method and coral species. Methods were most effective on Orbicella spp. (75%) and less effective on the limited number of treated Montastraea cavernosa (37%) colonies. Seven of the thirty-eight treated colonies did not respond favorably to intervention treatments. The number of new treatments varied monthly and was highest at the onset of rainy season and the warmest periods in late summer. After field-testing the effectiveness of antibiotic treatments, all treatments on the infected Large Corals were switched to antibiotic ointment in August 2019. This showed higher success for Orbicella spp. (88.3%) and much higher success for Montastraea cavernosa (73.7%) colonies. The low success of the chlorinated epoxy treatments lead to the termination of this method, continuing, disease treatments will be treated solely with antibiotic ointment. Monitoring and intervention efforts have shown these colonies continue to get disease periodically, which if not treated will lead to colony mortality. New infections could be due to environmental stressors (e.g. salinity, temperature, dissolved organic carbon) as well as adaptations and genetic variations between and within species. Observed infection rates may correspond to increases in certain water quality metrics therefore it is important to investigate temporal infections of the large corals with temporal changes in water quality as well as collect cores and tissue samples of our Large Coral inventory to identify the cause of infection rate differences between species and individuals.
Download or read book Characterization of an Unknown Octocoral Disease in the Florida Reef Tract written by Colleen O'Brien and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ecological and Molecular Characterization of a Coral Black Band Disease Outbreak in the Red Sea During a Bleaching Event written by Ghaida Hadaidi and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dynamics of Stony Coral Assemblages on Patch Reefs of the Upper Florida Reef Tract Including Biscayne National Park written by Amy Wallace and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The patch reefs located in Biscayne National Park (BNP) are some of the most northern reefs of the Florida reef system. The focus of my study is seven patch reefs that were first surveyed annually between 1977 and 1981, revealing 8% - 28% cover by scleractinian corals. An assessment of BNP patch reefs completed in 2000 reported that coral cover had decreased to approximately 0.4% - 10%. The once dominant species in the Florida reef tract, Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis, have rapidly declined over time and were not found in any transects during the 2000 survey. This study is a re-assessment of the BNP patch reefs surveyed in 1977-1981. In addition, one patch reef from BNP and three in upper keys region of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) have been included (a total of 11 patch reefs, all with historical data available). This study found 2% - 13% coral cover at these 11 reefs using a photographic survey (Point Count) and 4% - 21% coral cover using Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) survey methods. These results are relatively similar to results reported for the same patch reefs in the 1990s and in 2002, indicating that the major changes occurred earlier with the extreme decline in Acropora spp. Montastraea annularis complex cover has also declined substantially at the BNP sites from 5.4% in 1977-81 to 1.3% in 2009. Although the number of species recoded on the seven resurveyed BNP patch reefs was only 23, compared with 28 recorded in the 1977-81 study, all species are still present in the region surveyed, indicating no actual loss of over all species richness.
Download or read book Coral Reefs and Associated Marine Fauna around the Arabian Peninsula written by Najeeb M.A. Rasul and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2024-07-15 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coral Reefs and Associated Marine Fauna around the Arabian Peninsula is a unique text that contains studies on a diverse range of topics related to the biology of the Red Sea and Arabian (Persian) Gulf region. Containing invited and peer-reviewed chapters, this book is a compilation of the works of various experts in their respective fields. The authors delve into the marine fauna around the Arabian Peninsula, including marine reptiles and mammals, coral reefs, fish, invertebrates, algae and phytoplankton. They also explore the changes resulting from anthropogenic and climate effects. This book will be a helpful resource for researchers in Biology and will also be a valuable reference for anyone interested in the biology of these two warm semi-isolated seas with their unique environments.
Download or read book Coral Assemblages and Diseases in the Yucatan and Gulf of Mexico written by Adan Guillermo Jordan Garza and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last 40 years, coral populations in the Caribbean declined considerably and coral diseases have increased. Determining the etiologies of coral diseases, making accurate predictions of the prevalence of coral diseases, and developing useful conservation measures to preserve reef corals is urgently needed. This study took a five-tiered approach to examine coral diseases on the coral reefs of Mexico. Using a hierarchical sampling design I first characterize the diseased coral assemblages at two locations, one in the Gulf of Mexico and the other in the Mexican Caribbean. These systems differ in coral diversity; reefs in the Gulf of Mexico are characterized by lower diversity than reefs in the Mexican Caribbean. I test the hypotheses that a species-rich coral assemblage might harbor more diseases than a species-poor assemblage. At both locations, diseases are most prevalent on the major reef-building corals, which include Orbicella annularis species complex, Colpophyllia natans, Pseudodiploria strigosa. Despite the differences in the thermal regimes at the two localities, the response of the corals to disease varies in accordance with coral species and disease type. Second, I characterize the coral assemblages and their diseases using a hierarchical sampling design at four different reef habitats along the northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. I tested the hypothesis that the prevalence of disease is predictable when the composition of the coral assemblage is known. Furthermore, I test the hypothesis that the prevalence of coral diseases will be higher near high-human densities than near low-human densities. I found that depth was the best predictor of the spatial distribution of coral populations, but depth was not a good predictor of coral diseases. The proximity to high-human densities, and associated land-use change and pollution, was not a good predictor of coral diseases, although it was a good predictor of coral-assemblage structure. Small coral colonies, with brooding life-history strategies, were most common near polluted sites. Given that some diseases are species specific and that prevalence follows a binomial distribution, when coral assemblages are known, the prevalence of disease is more easily predicted than when the assemblages are unknown and treated as coral cover. Third, I followed changes to the coral assemblages and their associated diseases for 4 years in the same four localities. Although the coral populations and their size-frequency distributions did not change significantly through time, partial mortality increased and the number of diseased colonies changed through time. The changes in disease prevalence were not consistent showing increases in some years and decreases in others. Fourth, I tested the potential transmission of yellow-band disease among colonies of Orbicella faveolata. I showed that physical inoculation of diseased-tissue slurry into healthy-looking tissue of diseased colonies of O. faveolata did not induce signs of infection in situ. Fifth, a conceptual model was constructed synthesize the studies. Using yellow-signs disease, I test whether coral diseases follow a contagious-disease model at two spatial scales, at the reef and regional scale. I show that although coral-disease models can help to understand the etiology of diseases, if unrealistic assumptions are made the models can be misleading. By studying changes in yellow-sign prevalence and populations of O. annularis and O. faveolata, I show that the disease dynamics are mainly site-dependent. Using epidemiological models, I show that a model assuming that the appearance of disease signs is a consequence of thermal stress predicts observed changes in prevalence better than a mass-action model, which assumes transmission of the disease from infected to susceptible coral hosts. In conclusion, this study shows that in order to predict the prevalence of coral diseases it is important to quantify the number of coral hosts in coral assemblages; moreover, diseases increase partial mortality that can lead to long-term changes in coral community structure.
Download or read book Marine Disease Ecology written by Donald C. Behringer and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-01-30 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether through loss of habitat or cascading community effects, diseases can shape the very nature of the marine environment. Despite their significant impacts, studies of marine diseases have tended to lag behind their terrestrial equivalents, particularly with regards to their ecological effects. However, in recent decades global research focused on marine disease ecology has expanded at an accelerating rate. This is due in part to increases in disease emergence across many taxa, but can also be attributed to a broader realization that the parasites responsible for disease are themselves important members of marine communities. Understanding their ecological relationships with the environment and their hosts is critical to understanding, conserving, and managing natural and exploited populations, communities, and ecosystems. Courses on marine disease ecology are now starting to emerge and this first textbook in the field will be ideally placed to serve them. Marine Disease Ecology is suitable for graduate students and researchers in the fields of marine disease ecology, aquaculture, fisheries, veterinary science, evolution and conservation. It will also be of relevance and use to a broader interdisciplinary audience of government agencies, NGOs, and marine resource managers.
Download or read book Coral Health and Disease written by Eugene Rosenberg and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2004-04-27 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book opens with case studies of reefs in the Red Sea, Caribbean, Japan, Indian Ocean and the Great Barrier Reef. A section on microbial ecology and physiology describes the symbiotic relations of corals and microbes, and the microbial role in nutrition or bleaching resistance of corals. Coral diseases are covered in the third part. The volume includes 50 color photos of corals and their environments
Download or read book Coral Reefs of the USA written by Bernhard M. Riegl and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-03-21 with total page 811 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coral Reefs of the USA provides a complete overview of the present status of knowledge regarding all coral reef areas within the USA and its territories. It is written by the most experienced authorities in their fields and geographic areas. Stretching from the Caribbean to the western Pacific, the coral reefs of the USA span extensive geographic and biotic diversity, occur in a wide variety of geomorphological settings, and provide a representative cross-section of Holocene reef-building. This book will therefore be of broad general interest. For the first time, complete scholarly reviews are given for the geology, geomorphology and the biology of reefs encompassing a vast area stretching from the Mariana Islands in the west, Samoa in the south, Hawaii in the north and the Virgin Islands in the east. This book is not a status report, but will provide up-to-date information about stressors and the biotic responses of the reefs, as well as the geological explanations why these reefs exist in the first place. It will be an invaluable baseline-reference for all those who are engaged in research or management of these coral reefs or to those who simply enjoy being well-informed about one of the most iconic ecosystems of the USA.
Download or read book Dredging and Port Construction Around Coral Reefs written by and published by PIANC. This book was released on 2010 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Coral Reefs of the Gulf written by Bernhard Riegl and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-04-13 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coral Reefs of the Gulf: Adaptation to Climatic Extremes is a complete review and reference for scientists, engineers and students concerned with the geology, biology or engineering aspects of coral reefs in the Middle East. It provides for the first time a complete review of both the geology and biology of all extant coral areas in the Gulf, the water body between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. In summer, this area is the hottest sea with abundant coral growth on earth and already today exhibits a temperature that is predicted to occur across the topical ocean in 2100. Thus, by studying the Gulf today, much can be learned about tomorrow’s world and the capability of coral reefs to adapt to climatic extremes. This volume provides the most authoritative and up-to-date review of the coral reefs in the Gulf. It can be used as a volume of general reference or as a textbook treating recent coral reefs. Written by local and international experts, the text is richly illustrated and will remain a standard reference for the region for decades to come. Contributions stretch from climatology through geology, biology, ecological modelling and fisheries science to practical conservation aspects. The book is useful for the technical expert and casual reader alike.
Download or read book Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems written by Yossi Loya and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-06-21 with total page 1003 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book summarizes what is known about mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) geographically and by major taxa. MCEs are characterized by light-dependent corals and associated communities typically found at depths ranging from 30-40 m. and extending to over 150 m. in tropical and subtropical ecosystems. They are populated with organisms typically associated with shallow coral reefs, such as macroalgae, corals, sponges, and fishes, as well as specialist species unique to mesophotic depths. During the past decade, there has been an increasing scientific and management interest in MCEs expressed by the exponential increase in the number of publications studying this unique environment. Despite their close proximity to well-studied shallow reefs, and the growing evidence of their importance, our scientific knowledge of MCEs is still in its early stages. The topics covered in the book include: regional variation in MCEs; similarities and differences between mesophotic and shallow reef taxa, biotic and abiotic conditions, biodiversity, ecology, geomorphology, and geology; potential connectivity between MCEs and shallow reefs; MCE disturbances, conservation, and management challenges; and new technologies, key research questions/knowledge gaps, priorities, and future directions in MCE research.
Download or read book Geological Approaches to Coral Reef Ecology written by Richard B. Aronson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-03-09 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a unique perspective on the destruction - both natural and human-caused - of coral reef ecosystems. Reconstructing the ecological history of coral reefs, the authors evaluate whether recent dramatic changes are novel events or part of a long-term trend or cycle. The text combines principles of geophysics, paleontology, and marine sciences with real-time observation, examining the interacting causes of change: hurricane damage, predators, disease, rising sea-level, nutrient loading, global warming and ocean acidification. Predictions about the future of coral reefs inspire strategies for restoration and management of ecosystems. Useful for students and professionals in ecology and marine biology, including environmental managers.
