Bleaching increases likelihood of disease on Acropora palmata (Lamarck) in Hawksnest Bay, St John, US Virgin Islands |
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Authors: | E M Muller C S Rogers A S Spitzack R van Woesik |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 32901, USA;(2) United States Geological Survey Caribbean Field Station, St John, 00830, US Virgin Islands |
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Abstract: | Anomalously high water temperatures may enhance the likelihood of coral disease outbreaks by increasing the abundance or virulence
of pathogens, or by increasing host susceptibility. This study tested the compromised-host hypothesis, and documented the
relationship between disease and temperature, through monthly monitoring of Acropora palmata colonies from May 2004 to December 2006, in Hawksnest Bay, St John, US Virgin Islands (USVI). Disease prevalence and the
rate of change in prevalence showed a positive linear relationship with water temperature and rate of change in water temperature,
respectively, but only in 2005 during prolonged periods of elevated temperature. Both bleached and unbleached colonies showed
a positive relationship between disease prevalence and temperature in 2005, but the average area of disease-associated mortality
increased only for bleached corals, indicating host susceptibility, rather than temperature per se, influenced disease severity
on A. palmata. |
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Keywords: | Acropora palmata Coral disease Bleaching Temperature Host susceptibility |
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