Evidence of Coral Diseases, Phase Shift, and Stressors in the Atolls of Lakshadweep Islands, Arabian Sea—With Geographical Notes on Their Occurrence within the Indian EEZ and Contiguous International Waters

Das, Rocktim Ramen; Sreeraj, C. R.; Gopi, M.; Simon, Nina Tabitha; Purvaja, R.; Ramachandran, Ramesh; Krishnan, P.; Kumar, Deepak

doi:10.3390/d15030382

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The current disease prevalence level in that region, along with other stressors of coral health such as increased fluctuations in light and sea surface temperatures [16,17], also indicate that this region is at risk of community structure changes [11,18]. Several recent studies have also reported the occurrence and rising prevalence of coral diseases from the northern Indian Ocean region [14,15,17,19,20]. Recently, around 20 coral diseases affecting 16 coral taxa were also recorded from the Red Sea, with the most common one being the Acropora White Syndrome disease [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These mass coral mortalities that were associated with the coral diseases led to the rapid shift from coraldominated to algal-dominated or weedy coral-dominated (such as Porites or Agaricia) reefs in the Caribbean region and contributed to the loss of the characteristic zonation patterns innate to that region [8,9]. Although comparatively less studied than the Caribbean, the Indo-Pacific tropical coral reefs are also not spared from the damaging impacts of coral diseases with several reef-building species of Acropora, Montipora, and Porites [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] reported with signs of widespread coral diseases. The current disease prevalence level in that region, along with other stressors of coral health such as increased fluctuations in light and sea surface temperatures [16,17], also indicate that this region is at risk of community structure changes [11,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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First Report of Diseases and Compromised Health Conditions on Hard Corals around Rodrigues Island, Southwest Indian Ocean

Jogee,

Gopalsing,

Jeetun

et al. 2023

Diversity

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Coral diseases represent a prominent menace to coral reefs and to the associated ecological services they provide to the surrounding coastal communities. Studies on diseases and compromised health conditions (CHCs) on hard corals in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) are scarce, and their consequences are often overlooked. This study aimed to establish the baseline prevalence of diseases and CHC of hard corals around Rodrigues Island. Coral disease and CHC prevalence were visually assessed using 2 m × 50 m belt transects at eight sites around the island. This is the first report of four coral diseases, namely White Plague (WP), White Syndrome (WS), Black Band (BB), and Growth Anomalies (GA), and two CHCs, two forms of Pink Pigmentation Responses (PPR)—Pink Patches (PP) and Pink Line Syndrome (PLS)—observed on six genera of hard corals from the island of Rodrigues. PP on Fungia (15.92 ± 5.65%), followed by the WS on Montipora (4.67 ± 3.72%) and GA on Gardineroseris (4.16 ± 4.16%), so far unreported from the SWIO, were the most prevalent around the island. The least prevalent disease was BB on Montipora (0.13 ± 0.13%). Although the overall disease and CHC prevalence for Rodrigues Island (0.98 ± 0.30%) were much lower than the surrounding islands in the SWIO, the observations of these diseases and CHCs on hard corals and relevant environmental parameters warrant further in-depth characterization to better inform coral reefs management and conservation actions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Report of Diseases and Compromised Health Conditions on Hard Corals around Rodrigues Island, Southwest Indian Ocean

Jogee,

Gopalsing,

Jeetun

et al. 2023

Diversity

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Porites sp. deposits pink pigmentation to limit the propagation of vermitid gastropods and rhodoliths at coral surface interfaces

Ramesh,

Shunmugaraj,

Koushik

et al. 2023

Discov Environ

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Pink pigmentation on massive corals is quite commonly observed in the global reefs, but its function on the surface area of corals is less understood. In the present study, the coral video transect method was employed to document the incidence of pink pigmentation on Porites colonies from 21 islands under the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve (GoMMBR), India. Results revealed that 19% (n = 77 out of 517) of Porites sp. colonies displayed pink pigmentation as a stress indicator in response to the colonization of epibionts. Porites colonies exhibited pink pigmentation when infected with epibionts like a vermetid snail, Ceraesignum sp. (12%; n = 49), a rhodolith, Hydrolithon sp. (5%; n = 21), or both (2%; n = 7). This study indicates that Porites pink pigment deposition aids in minimizing surface tissue area damage by preventing further progression of infesting agents such as vermitid snails and rhodoliths on the surface areas of corals.

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Decadal timescale evolution of coral islands: insights from Lakshadweep Archipelago

Menon,

Khanna,

Misra

et al. 2024

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Low–lying coral islands are susceptible to rising sea levels and climate change, posing risks to island habitability over the next century. The decadal timescale evolution of the islands can provide an understanding of the governing controls of change and island response. This study investigates variations in the shoreline morphology of the Lakshadweep coral islands (Northern Indian Ocean/Arabian Sea) using satellite datasets (2003–2022; CNES/Airbus;0.3m – 0.7m resolution) and sedimentological data. Of the thirty islands (ten inhabited), six islands (Bangaram, Thinnakara, Suheli, Minicoy, Androth and Bitra) have been studied. Most of these islands are less than 1 km2 in size except Androth and Minicoy (>4 km2). While the data is discontinuous for the islands due to cloud obscuring, the shoreline morphology depicts variations for all the islands’ studied, irrespective of habitation and size. Larger islands have undergone consistent erosion since 2007 (total land loss is approximately 3 - 5% cumulatively). Smaller islands have undergone lateral migration, with sediment erosion usually along the southern edge and sediment migration and accumulation northwards, however, overall, their size remains consistently stable. The migration of sediments is observed only from 2007–2017, which coincides with severe El–Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and low amplitude positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events. Furthermore, sedimentological analysis along Bangaram’s (small island) accreting margin reveals unconsolidated bio-detrital grainstones with predominant sand-sized fractions (2 – 0.25mm). Corals (43%), molluscs (33%), forams (13%), and algae (8%) are the major sediment producers (with 3% unidentified bioclasts). The ongoing climate warming and ocean acidification will influence the carbonate sediment budget in addition to the changing hydrodynamics owing to monsoons, cyclones, and coupled ocean-atmospheric regional phenomenon, altering the sediment production, transport and accumulation on these islands. Furthermore, rising sea levels and consequent erosion by wave action might lead to rapid drowning in the next few centuries. Our study identifies the current status of the island size variability in the Lakshadweep Archipelago and how site-specific and global factors influence them, thus providing insights into assessing the habitability within these low-lying coral islands.

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Evidence of Coral Diseases, Phase Shift, and Stressors in the Atolls of Lakshadweep Islands, Arabian Sea—With Geographical Notes on Their Occurrence within the Indian EEZ and Contiguous International Waters

Cited by 3 publications

References 39 publications

First Report of Diseases and Compromised Health Conditions on Hard Corals around Rodrigues Island, Southwest Indian Ocean

First Report of Diseases and Compromised Health Conditions on Hard Corals around Rodrigues Island, Southwest Indian Ocean

Porites sp. deposits pink pigmentation to limit the propagation of vermitid gastropods and rhodoliths at coral surface interfaces

Decadal timescale evolution of coral islands: insights from Lakshadweep Archipelago

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