The Tortugas, Florida, as a Station for Research in Biology

Mayer, Alfred Goldsborough

doi:10.1126/science.17.422.190

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Coral reefs are valuable ecosystems that provide habitat to a highly diverse group of marine organisms and support a variety of human recreational and commercial activities (Bryant et al, 1998;Kayanne, 1996;Mayer, 1903;Pennisi, health risks, as well as increased rates of coral disease and stony coral loss (Nobles et al, 2000;Patterson et al, 2002;Porter et al, 2001). Much of the human wastewater is disposed of via 30,000 septic systems, 5000)10,000 cesspits, and >600 Class IV injection wells, which are known to contribute to elevated nutrients and enteric microbes in surface waters near shore (Lapointe et al, 1990;Paul et al 1995Paul et al , 1997Shinn et al, 1994); however, because of problems with traditional fecal indicators in tropical marine waters (e.g., Fujioka et al, 1988;Garcia-Lara et al, 1991;Griffin et al, 2001), little is known about distribution of these contaminants offshore and in the coral reef tract.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Coral Mucus as an Improved Medium for Detection of Enteric Microbes and for Determining Patterns of Sewage Contamination in Reef Environments

Lipp

Griffin

2004

EcoHealth

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Traditional fecal indicator bacteria are often subject to a high degree of die-off and dilution in tropical marine waters, particularly in offshore areas such as coral reefs. Furthermore, these microbes are often not associated with human waste, and their presence may not be indicative of health risk. To address the offshore extent of wastewater contamination in the Florida Keys reef tract, we assayed coral surfaces for the presence of human-specific enteric viruses. The overlying water column and surface mucopolysaccharide (mucus) layers from scleractinian corals were sampled from three stations along a nearshore-to-offshore transect beginning at Long Key in the middle Florida Keys, USA. Samples were assayed for standard bacterial water quality indicators (fecal coliform bacteria and enterococci) and for human enteroviruses by direct reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The concentration of the bacterial indicators was greatest at the nearshore station in both the water column and corals, and decreased with distance from shore; no indicator bacteria were detected at the offshore station. Whereas human enteroviruses were not detected in any of the water column samples, they were detected in 50)80% of coral mucus samples at each station. These data provide evidence that human sewage is impacting the reef tract up to 6.5 km from shore in the middle Florida Keys and that coral mucus is an efficient trap for viral markers associated with anthropogenic pollution.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Coral Mucus as an Improved Medium for Detection of Enteric Microbes and for Determining Patterns of Sewage Contamination in Reef Environments

Lipp

Griffin

2004

EcoHealth

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“…Their mortality, however, was caused by factors different from those for the Acropora species (see . In Florida, it is well documented that Acropora-dominated communities are dynamic at the scale of individual reefs and they have been extremely volatile over the past century (Mayer 1902;Enos 1977;Davis 1982;Jaap and Sargent 1994;Jaap 1998). At the scale of the entire reef tract, deteriorating conditions throughout the late Holocene led to contraction of acroporid reefs and the reef system as a whole.…”

Section: The Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geological Approaches to Coral Reef Ecology

Aronson¹

2007

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Cover: A coral reef near Discovery Bay on the north coast of Jamaica, photographed at 6 m depth in July 2003. The branching species is staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, and the massive corals belong to the Montastraea annularis species complex. A. cervicornis populations in Jamaica were killed by disease and hurricanes in the early 1980s and began to recover circa 2002. The inset photographs at the top show extraordinarily well-preserved fossil A. cervicornis (left) and Montastraea (right) from the early-to middle-Holocene reef complex in the Enriquillo Valley, Dominican Republic. The fossil corals are part of an 11-m vertical section composed almost entirely of A. cervicornis, which has been radiocarbon-dated to 9400 to 7400 years before present. Geological approaches broaden our understanding of the threats facing modern coral reefs, increasing our predictive power in a rapidly changing world. Photos by William F. Precht (Jamaica) and H. Allen Curran (Dominican Republic); montage design by Ryan M. Moody.

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“…In particular, rivers located around the periphery of Florida Bay [ The South‐West Florida Dark‐Water Observations Group ( SWFDOG ), 2002], the Mississippi River, and African dust [ Shinn et al , 2000; Walsh and Steidinger , 2001] may be important sources. Red tides are also known to cause mortality in pelagic fish and benthic habitats [ Mayer , 1903; Smith , 1975; Kusek et al , 1999].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The 2002 ocean color anomaly in the Florida Bight: A cause of local coral reef decline?

Hackett

Callahan

et al. 2003

Geophysical Research Letters

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The status of coral reef communities has been monitored annually since 1996 at two sites north of Key West, Florida, [Smith Shoal (24.72°N, 81.92°W) and Content Keys (24.82°N, 81.49°W)]. Percent cover of selected benthic community categories and stony (hermatypic) coral species number at these sites were relatively stable from 1996 to 2001, but decreased by >70% and >40%, respectively, from 2001 to 2002. Clionid sponges ranged from 12–16 colonies in 2001, but none were observed in 2002. Satellite ocean color imagery showed the transit of water with abnormally low water‐leaving radiance values between March and May 2002 over these sites. Field observations showed that this “black” water contained the red tide organism Karenia brevis and high diatom concentrations. The observations from satellite ocean color data suggested that the decline in the benthic communities was related to the passage of the water patch over the reef sites.

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The Tortugas, Florida, as a Station for Research in Biology

Cited by 22 publications

References 0 publications

Analysis of Coral Mucus as an Improved Medium for Detection of Enteric Microbes and for Determining Patterns of Sewage Contamination in Reef Environments

Analysis of Coral Mucus as an Improved Medium for Detection of Enteric Microbes and for Determining Patterns of Sewage Contamination in Reef Environments

Geological Approaches to Coral Reef Ecology

The 2002 ocean color anomaly in the Florida Bight: A cause of local coral reef decline?

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