Contemporary white-band disease in Caribbean corals driven by climate change

Randall, Carly J.; Woesik, Robert van

doi:10.1038/nclimate2530

Cited by 140 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Elevated temperature and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) availability can potentially increase nitrogen fixation activity in corals (Figure 1) [45,78]. Coincidentally, these same two stress factors are considered strong drivers of bleaching and diseases in corals [40,[80][81][82].…”

Section: Environmental Constraints and Anthropogenic Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen cycling in corals: the key to understanding holobiont functioning?

Rädecker

Pogoreutz

Voolstra

et al. 2015

Trends in Microbiology

452

431

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Corals are animals that form close mutualistic associations with endosymbiotic photosynthetic algae of the genus Symbiodinium. Together they provide the calcium carbonate framework of coral reef ecosystems. The importance of the microbiome (i.e., bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses) to holobiont functioning has only recently been recognized. Given that growth and density of Symbiodinium within the coral host is highly dependent on nitrogen availability, nitrogen-cycling microbes may be of fundamental importance to the stability of the coral-algae symbiosis and holobiont functioning, in particular under nutrient-enriched and -depleted scenarios. We summarize what is known about nitrogen cycling in corals and conclude that disturbance of microbial nitrogen cycling may be tightly linked to coral bleaching and disease.

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Section: Environmental Constraints and Anthropogenic Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen cycling in corals: the key to understanding holobiont functioning?

Rädecker

Pogoreutz

Voolstra

et al. 2015

Trends in Microbiology

452

431

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show abstract

“…Population crashes of two key reef-building corals (Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata) in the Caribbean (Gladfelter, 1982;Aronson and Precht, 2001) have now been linked to ocean warming (Randall and Van Woesik, 2015) and have had drastic impacts on coral reef ecosystems throughout the region, leading to listing of the species as Threatened under the United States' Endangered Species Act (Weijerman et al, 2014). Temperature increases of 6 • C have also been observed to reduce the production of mucous, which may increase susceptibility to coral diseases (Pratte and Richardson, 2014).…”

Section: Updates To Ar5mentioning

confidence: 99%

An updated synthesis of the observed and projected impacts of climate change on the chemical, physical and biological processes in the oceans

et al. 2015

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The 5th Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states with very high certainty that anthropogenic emissions have caused measurable changes in the physical ocean environment. These changes are summarized with special focus on those that are predicted to have the strongest, most direct effects on ocean biological processes; namely, ocean warming and associated phenomena (including stratification and sea level rise) as well as deoxygenation and ocean acidification. The biological effects of these changes are then discussed for microbes (including phytoplankton), plants, animals, warm and cold-water corals, and ecosystems. The IPCC AR5 highlighted several areas related to both the physical and biological processes that required further research. As a rapidly developing field, there have been many pertinent studies published since the cut off dates for the AR5, which have increased our understanding of the processes at work. This study undertook an extensive review of recently published literature to update the findings of the AR5 and provide a synthesized review on the main issues facing future oceans. The level of detail provided in the AR5 and subsequent work provided a basis for constructing projections of the state of ocean ecosystems in 2100 under two the Representative Concentration Pathways RCP4.5 and 8.5. Finally the review highlights notable additions, clarifications and points of departure from AR5 provided by subsequent studies.

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“…The causative agents of most coral diseases are still unknown, but laboratory and field studies have shown an influence from a variety of stressors in addition to water temperatures, including population density (Bruno et al, 2007), nutrient enrichment (Bruno et al, 2003;Voss and Richardson, 2006), and irradiance (Kuta and Richardson, 2002). It is also likely that physiological and environmental parameters interact to influence the virulence of the pathogens, and the susceptibility of coral hosts (Randall and van Woesik, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated Thermal Stress, Shading, and Directional Selection in the Florida Reef Tract

Woesik

McCaffrey

2017

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Over the last three decades reef corals have been subjected to an unprecedented frequency and intensity of thermal-stress events, which have led to extensive coral bleaching, disease, and mortality. Over the next century, the climate is predicted to drive sea-surface temperatures to even higher levels, consequently increasing the risk of mass bleaching and disease outbreaks. Yet, there is considerable temporal and spatial variation in coral bleaching and in disease prevalence. Using data collected from 2,398 sites along the Florida reef tract from 2005 to 2015, this study examined the temporal and spatial patterns of coral bleaching and disease in relation to coral-colony size, depth, temperature, and chlorophyll-a concentrations. The results show that coral bleaching was most prevalent during the warmest years in 2014 and 2015, and disease was also most prevalent in 2010, 2014, and 2015. Although the majority of the corals surveyed were found in habitats with low chlorophyll-a concentrations, and high irradiance, these same habitats showed the highest prevalence of coral bleaching and disease outbreaks during thermal-stress events. These results suggest that directional selection in a warming ocean may favor corals able to tolerate inshore, shaded environments with high turbidity and productivity.

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Contemporary white-band disease in Caribbean corals driven by climate change

Cited by 140 publications

References 22 publications

Nitrogen cycling in corals: the key to understanding holobiont functioning?

Nitrogen cycling in corals: the key to understanding holobiont functioning?

An updated synthesis of the observed and projected impacts of climate change on the chemical, physical and biological processes in the oceans

Repeated Thermal Stress, Shading, and Directional Selection in the Florida Reef Tract

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