Wasting disease and static environmental variables drive sea star assemblages in the Northern Gulf of Alaska

Konar, Brenda; Mitchell, Timothy James; Iken, Katrin; Coletti, Heather A.; Dean, Thomas A.; Esler, Daniel; Lindeberg, Mandy R.; Pister, Benjamin; Weitzman, Benjamin P.

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2019.151209

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The relative rugosity between SSW-affected and less SSW-affected asteroid species was examined by calculating the ratio of 3D (determined by computed tomography) to 2D (as calculated below) for each asteroid specimen and comparing between species. Asteroid species were categorized based on prevalence of SSW (less or not affected = Dermasterias imbricata , Henricia leviuscula , Patiria miniata ; SSW affected = Pisaster ochraceus , Solaster stimpsoni , Pycnopodia helianthoides , Leptasterias sp., Asterias forbesi , Orthasterias kohleri , Pisaster giganteus , and Pisaster brevispinus ) as reported elsewhere ( Montecino-Latorre et al, 2016 ; Bucci et al, 2017 ; Miner et al, 2018 ; Jaffe et al, 2019 ; Konar et al, 2019 ). These were likewise compared between animal volume, surface area:volume and 2D area.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 54%

Evidence That Microorganisms at the Animal-Water Interface Drive Sea Star Wasting Disease

et al. 2021

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Sea star wasting (SSW) disease describes a condition affecting asteroids that resulted in significant Northeastern Pacific population decline following a mass mortality event in 2013. The etiology of SSW is unresolved. We hypothesized that SSW is a sequela of microbial organic matter remineralization near respiratory surfaces, one consequence of which may be limited O2 availability at the animal-water interface. Microbial assemblages inhabiting tissues and at the asteroid-water interface bore signatures of copiotroph proliferation before SSW onset, followed by the appearance of putatively facultative and strictly anaerobic taxa at the time of lesion genesis and as animals died. SSW lesions were induced in Pisaster ochraceus by enrichment with a variety of organic matter (OM) sources. These results together illustrate that depleted O2 conditions at the animal-water interface may be established by heterotrophic microbial activity in response to organic matter loading. SSW was also induced by modestly (∼39%) depleted O2 conditions in aquaria, suggesting that small perturbations in dissolved O2 may exacerbate the condition. SSW susceptibility between species was significantly and positively correlated with surface rugosity, a key determinant of diffusive boundary layer thickness. Tissues of SSW-affected individuals collected in 2013–2014 bore δ15N signatures reflecting anaerobic processes, which suggests that this phenomenon may have affected asteroids during mass mortality at the time. The impacts of enhanced microbial activity and subsequent O2 diffusion limitation may be more pronounced under higher temperatures due to lower O2 solubility, in more rugose asteroid species due to restricted hydrodynamic flow, and in larger specimens due to their lower surface area to volume ratios which affects diffusive respiratory potential.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 54%

Evidence That Microorganisms at the Animal-Water Interface Drive Sea Star Wasting Disease

et al. 2021

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“…The relative rugosity between wasting-affected and less wasting-affected asteroid species was examined by calculating the ratio of 3D (determined by computed tomography) to 2D (as calculated below) for each asteroid specimen and comparing between species. Asteroid species were categorized based on prevalence of wasting (less or not affected = Dermasterias imbricata, Henricia leviuscula, Patiria miniata; wasting affected = Pisaster ochraceus, Solaster stimpsoni, Pycnopodia helianthoides, Leptasterias sp., Asterias forbesi, Orthasterias kohleri, Pisaster giganteus and Pisaster brevispinus) as reported elsewhere (Montecino-Latorre et al, 2016;Bucci et al, 2017;Miner et al, 2018;Jaffe et al, 2019;Konar et al, 2019). These were likewise compared between animal volume, surface area:volume and 2D area.…”

Section: Association Of Wasting Susceptibility With Rugosity and Surfmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Comparison of community structure before and after wasting suggests interspecies variability in wasting mortality. Asteriid taxa (Pycnopodia helianthoides, Pisaster spp., and Evasterias troschelii) experienced considerable declines in the Salish Sea (Montecino-Latorre et al, 2016;Schultz et al, 2016) and Southeast Alaska (Konar et al, 2019), while Dermasterias imbricata maintained or increased in abundance after mass mortality (Eckert et al, 1999;Montecino-Latorre et al, 2016;Schultz et al, 2016;Konar et al, 2019). In the Channel Islands, SSW disproportionately affected Asteriid taxa relative to D. imbricata and Patiria miniata (Eckert et al, 1999).…”

Section: Wasting Is Related To Inherent Asteroid Properties That Dictmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence that non-pathogenic microorganisms drive sea star wasting disease through boundary layer oxygen diffusion limitation

Aquino

Besemer

DeRito

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Sea star wasting (SSW) disease describes a condition affecting asteroids that resulted in significant Northeastern Pacific population decline following a mass mortality event in 2013. The etiology of sea star wasting is unresolved. We hypothesize that asteroid wasting is a sequela of microbial organic matter remineralization near respiratory surfaces which leads to boundary layer oxygen diffusion limitation (BLODL). Wasting lesions were induced in Pisaster ochraceus by enrichment with a variety of organic matter (OM) sources. Microbial assemblages inhabiting tissues and at the asteroid-water interface bore signatures of copiotroph proliferation before wasting onset, concomitant with and followed by the proliferation of putatively facultative and strictly anaerobic taxa. Bacterial cell abundance increased dramatically prior to wasting onset in experimental incubations. Wasting susceptibility was significantly correlated with rugosity (a key determinant of boundary layer thickness) of animal surfaces. At a semi continuously monitored field site (Langley Harbor), wasting predictably occurred at annual peak or decline in phytoplankton biomass. Finally, wasting individuals from 2013 to 2014 bore stable isotopic signatures reflecting anaerobic processes and altered C and N metabolisms. These convergent lines of evidence support our hypothesis that BLODL is associated with wasting both in contemporary SSW events and during the 2013 to 2014 SSW mass mortality event, potentially driven by phytoplankton-derived OM. The impacts of BLODL may be more pronounced under higher temperatures due to lower O2 solubility, in more rugose asteroid species due to restricted hydrodynamic flow, and in larger specimens due to their lower surface area to volume ratios which affects diffusive respiratory potential.

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“…See ref. [82][83][84] for detailed methods and analysis of rocky and mussel bed intertidal community changes during the PMH. We used percent cover of Fucus (individuals m -2 quadrat), counts of sea stars along a 50 m × 4 m transect (individuals 200 m -2 ) at rocky intertidal sites, and density of large (> 20 mm) mussels (individuals m -2 quadrat) at mussel bed sites.…”

Section: And Laurelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem response persists after a prolonged marine heatwave

Suryan

Arimitsu

Coletti

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

Self Cite

142

127

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Some of the longest and most comprehensive marine ecosystem monitoring programs were established in the Gulf of Alaska following the environmental disaster of the Exxon Valdez oil spill over 30 years ago. These monitoring programs have been successful in assessing recovery from oil spill impacts, and their continuation decades later has now provided an unparalleled assessment of ecosystem responses to another newly emerging global threat, marine heatwaves. The 2014–2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave (PMH) in the Gulf of Alaska was the longest lasting heatwave globally over the past decade, with some cooling, but also continued warm conditions through 2019. Our analysis of 187 time series from primary production to commercial fisheries and nearshore intertidal to offshore oceanic domains demonstrate abrupt changes across trophic levels, with many responses persisting up to at least 5 years after the onset of the heatwave. Furthermore, our suite of metrics showed novel community-level groupings relative to at least a decade prior to the heatwave. Given anticipated increases in marine heatwaves under current climate projections, it remains uncertain when or if the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem will return to a pre-PMH state.

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Wasting disease and static environmental variables drive sea star assemblages in the Northern Gulf of Alaska

Cited by 23 publications

References 48 publications

Evidence That Microorganisms at the Animal-Water Interface Drive Sea Star Wasting Disease

Evidence That Microorganisms at the Animal-Water Interface Drive Sea Star Wasting Disease

Evidence that non-pathogenic microorganisms drive sea star wasting disease through boundary layer oxygen diffusion limitation

Ecosystem response persists after a prolonged marine heatwave

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