Coral diseases, particularly in the Caribbean, have caused major declines in coral populations, especially affecting staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and Elkhorn (A. palmata) corals, which play a crucial role in reef ecosystems.
Coral diseases, particularly in the Caribbean, have caused major declines in coral populations, especially affecting staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and Elkhorn (A. palmata) corals, which play a crucial role in reef ecosystems. Despite efforts to identify the pathogens that cause diseases like White Band Disease (WBD), and Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), the specific agents remain largely unknown. Coral restoration programs aim to restore these once abundant coral species, but the effectiveness is threatened by multiple stressors, including increases in disease frequency and nutrient pollution caused from runoff from land-based activities.
A recent study by scientists at the University of Miami NOAA Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), which examined threatened Staghorn coral species (Acropora cervicornis), has uncovered important insights into how different coral genotypes respond to environmental stressors. The findings indicate that while some coral genotypes displayed resistance to either high nutrient levels or disease, none were resistant to both stressors simultaneously.
The scientists tested 10 genotypes commonly used in coral restoration in South Florida. Coral samples were collected from different offshore nurseries from (Coral Restoration Foundation, Florida Fish and Wildlife, and Rosenstiel’s Rescue a Reef Program) and transported to the NOAA CIMAS Experimental Reef Lab where they were exposed to two nutrient conditions: normal (ambient) or high ammonium levels for about 1.5 months. After this period, each coral was either exposed to a coral diseased tissue slurry or a healthy tissue slurry (i.e., placebo), creating four treatment groups: normal nutrients + placebo, normal nutrients + disease, high nutrients + placebo, and high nutrients + disease.
Read More: University of Miami Rosenstiel
Photo Credit: wanzi989813 via Pixabay
