New Disease Threatens Keys Reef
http://news-press.com/news/local_state/040319coral.html
By KEVIN LOLLAR, [email protected]
Published by news-press.com on March 19, 2004
Already under assault from a variety of diseases, algal blooms and deadly sponges, the Keys reef tract is facing yet another threat.
Scientists recently have discovered a disease that quickly kills staghorn coral, a species whose populations are in drastic decline.
The bright white areas of this staghorn coral are freshly exposed skeleton that are areas that havebeen killed by the disease.
DANA WILLIAMS/Special to news-press.com
“This is definitely just one more wake-up call that our reefs are not doing well in some areas and our oceans are sick,” said Billy Causey, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. “What this tells me is that our reefs are extremely vulnerable, and what affects them is really complex. There’s no one problem.”
NOAA-Fisheries ecologist Margaret Miller and University of Miami postdoctoral associate Dana Williams discovered the disease in late April 2003 at White Banks North and White Banks South patch reefs off Key Largo.
“We were rather heartbroken,” Miller said. “We were doing basic monitoring of juvenile colonies of staghorn, and they were growing really well, but then they started dying like flies.
“We sort of said, ‘Hmm, this looks bad.’ Over the next couple of weeks, mortality progressed very rapidly. We talked to the sanctuary and they said, ‘Hey, something’s going on.’ ”
Sanctuary officials closed the reefs to all human activity in July for two months.
Researchers at Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, S.C., are studying infected staghorn tissue but have not determined what causes the disease. Neither have researchers named it.
Staghorn coral is one of the hardest-hit species in the Keys and throughout the Caribbean basin. Populations have declined by up to 95 percent in some locations. Earlier this month, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the federal government to put staghorn and its close relatives, fused staghorn and elkhorn, on the Endangered Species List.
The disease also might have infected elkhorn and fused staghorn corals.
“It’s difficult to tell because we don’t know exactly what we’re looking at,” Williams said. “We’ve seen disease signs that look remarkably similar in terms of how it kills.
“It’s definitely everywhere and probably has been, but at a low level. Then sometimes it seems to spread more rapidly.”
Historically, staghorn coral’s greatest enemy has been white band disease, but the newly discovered disease kills more quickly.
“Coral fragments 6 to 8 inches long die within four or five days,” Miller said. “Semi-large colonies, half a meter to three-quarters of a meter, are two-thirds dead in two weeks. It’s depressing to watch.
“By comparison, white band disease spreads only a few millimeters a day.”
Experiments at White Banks show that a diseased section of coral can infect a healthy section by direct contact.
Miller and Williams also found that the small coral snail, a natural coral predator, can spread the disease, but the disease cannot be spread by humans.
At this point, scientists don’t know what the long-term effects of the disease will be.
“That’s the $64,000 question,” Miller said. “But it’s a good reminder that these outbreaks can pop up without notice, and we don’t understand how, when or where. These outbreaks are unpredictable and can have a rapid, drastic impact at individual sites.”
http://news-press.com/news/local_state/040319coral.html
By KEVIN LOLLAR, [email protected]
Published by news-press.com on March 19, 2004
Already under assault from a variety of diseases, algal blooms and deadly sponges, the Keys reef tract is facing yet another threat.
Scientists recently have discovered a disease that quickly kills staghorn coral, a species whose populations are in drastic decline.
The bright white areas of this staghorn coral are freshly exposed skeleton that are areas that havebeen killed by the disease.
DANA WILLIAMS/Special to news-press.com
“This is definitely just one more wake-up call that our reefs are not doing well in some areas and our oceans are sick,” said Billy Causey, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. “What this tells me is that our reefs are extremely vulnerable, and what affects them is really complex. There’s no one problem.”
NOAA-Fisheries ecologist Margaret Miller and University of Miami postdoctoral associate Dana Williams discovered the disease in late April 2003 at White Banks North and White Banks South patch reefs off Key Largo.
“We were rather heartbroken,” Miller said. “We were doing basic monitoring of juvenile colonies of staghorn, and they were growing really well, but then they started dying like flies.
“We sort of said, ‘Hmm, this looks bad.’ Over the next couple of weeks, mortality progressed very rapidly. We talked to the sanctuary and they said, ‘Hey, something’s going on.’ ”
Sanctuary officials closed the reefs to all human activity in July for two months.
Researchers at Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, S.C., are studying infected staghorn tissue but have not determined what causes the disease. Neither have researchers named it.
Staghorn coral is one of the hardest-hit species in the Keys and throughout the Caribbean basin. Populations have declined by up to 95 percent in some locations. Earlier this month, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the federal government to put staghorn and its close relatives, fused staghorn and elkhorn, on the Endangered Species List.
The disease also might have infected elkhorn and fused staghorn corals.
“It’s difficult to tell because we don’t know exactly what we’re looking at,” Williams said. “We’ve seen disease signs that look remarkably similar in terms of how it kills.
“It’s definitely everywhere and probably has been, but at a low level. Then sometimes it seems to spread more rapidly.”
Historically, staghorn coral’s greatest enemy has been white band disease, but the newly discovered disease kills more quickly.
“Coral fragments 6 to 8 inches long die within four or five days,” Miller said. “Semi-large colonies, half a meter to three-quarters of a meter, are two-thirds dead in two weeks. It’s depressing to watch.
“By comparison, white band disease spreads only a few millimeters a day.”
Experiments at White Banks show that a diseased section of coral can infect a healthy section by direct contact.
Miller and Williams also found that the small coral snail, a natural coral predator, can spread the disease, but the disease cannot be spread by humans.
At this point, scientists don’t know what the long-term effects of the disease will be.
“That’s the $64,000 question,” Miller said. “But it’s a good reminder that these outbreaks can pop up without notice, and we don’t understand how, when or where. These outbreaks are unpredictable and can have a rapid, drastic impact at individual sites.”
