Determining background levels and defining outbreaks of crustose coralline algae disease on the Great Barrier Reef

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (11) ◽  
pp. 1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. R. Miller ◽  
M. Logan ◽  
K. A. Johns ◽  
M. J. Jonker ◽  
K. Osborne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Coralline Algae ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Crustose Coralline Algae ◽  
Background Levels ◽  
White Band ◽  
High Incidence ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems ◽  
Anthropogenic Threats

Crustose coralline algae (CCA) play a vital role in coral-reef ecosystems and, like other marine organisms, they are vulnerable to disease. Between 2006 and 2011, incidence of two types of CCA disease was systematically recorded over a large portion of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The two CCA diseases that were recorded, coralline lethal orange disease and coralline white-band syndrome, were ubiquitous on the GBR, but generally at low levels comparable to those found on reefs in other parts of the Indo-Pacific. The present broad-scale study of the distribution and abundance of CCA disease on the GBR provides information on background levels of these diseases and allows regional thresholds for outbreaks to be defined. This will allow managers and researchers to focus attention on areas of high incidence of CCA disease to increase our understanding of causes and the environmental impacts of CCA disease at a time when coral reefs are under growing anthropogenic threats.

Distribution, abundance and diversity of crustose coralline algae on the Great Barrier Reef

Coral Reefs ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 581-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela J. Dean ◽  
Robert S. Steneck ◽  
Danika Tager ◽  
John M. Pandolfi
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Coralline Algae ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Crustose Coralline Algae ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

scholarly journals Community assessment of crustose calcifying red algae as coral recruitment substrates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari E. Deinhart ◽  
Matthew S. Mills ◽  
Tom Schils
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Red Algae ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Coralline Algae ◽  
Crustose Coralline Algae ◽  
Coral Recruitment ◽  
Successful Recruitment ◽  
Ecological Roles ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems ◽  
Species Specific

AbstractSuccessful recruitment of invertebrate larvae to reef substrates is essential to the health of tropical coral reef ecosystems and their capacity to recover from disturbances. Crustose calcifying red algae (CCRA) have been identified as important recruitment substrates for scleractinian corals. As such, CCRA as a whole or subgroups (e.g., crustose coralline algae, CCA) are often used at the functional group level in experimental, ecological, and monitoring studies. Species of CCRA, however, differ in their ecological roles and their value as coral recruitment substrates. Here, we (1) investigate the species richness and community composition of CCRA on experimental coral recruitment tiles, and (2) assess if there is a recruitment preference of the coral Acropora surculosa for any of these CCRA species. 27 species of two orders of CCRA (Corallinales and Peyssonneliales) were identified from the recruit tiles. None of the DNA sequences of these species matched released sequences in GenBank or sequences of CCRA collected from natural reef systems in Guam. The similarity in CCRA communities between the recruitment tiles was high. Two species of CCRA were significantly preferred as recruitment substrates over the other CCRA species. Both of these species belonged to the subfamily of the Lithophylloideae. These two species are closely related to Pacific species that have been referred to as Titanoderma -but probably have to be assigned to another genus- and many of the latter have been attributed to be preferred coral recruitment substrates. Of all CCRA, Lithophylloideae sp. 1 had the highest benthic cover on the recruitment tiles and was the most preferred recruitment substrate. These findings highlight the high taxonomic diversity of CCRA communities and provide insight into species-specific ecological roles of CCRA that are often overlooked.

scholarly journals Histopathology of crustose coralline algae affected by white band and white patch diseases

PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëlle Quéré ◽  
Anne-Leila Meistertzheim ◽  
Robert S. Steneck ◽  
Maggy M. Nugues
Keyword(s):  
Coralline Algae ◽  
White Patch ◽  
Crustose Coralline Algae ◽  
White Band

Shifts in coralline algae, macroalgae, and coral juveniles in the Great Barrier Reef associated with present‐day ocean acidification

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 2149-2160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy N. Smith ◽  
Mathieu Mongin ◽  
Angus Thompson ◽  
Michelle J. Jonker ◽  
Glenn De'ath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Coralline Algae ◽  
Barrier Reef

scholarly journals An enigmatic decoupling between heat stress and coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. DeCarlo ◽  
Hugo B. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Bleaching ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
High Heat ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems ◽  
Mass Bleaching

Ocean warming threatens the functioning of coral reef ecosystems by inducing mass coral bleaching and mortality events. The link between temperature and coral bleaching is now well-established based on observations that mass bleaching events usually occur when seawater temperatures are anomalously high. However, times of high heat stress but without coral bleaching are equally important because they can inform an understanding of factors that regulate temperature-induced bleaching. Here, we investigate the absence of mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) during austral summer 2004. Using four gridded sea surface temperature data products, validated with in situ temperature loggers, we demonstrate that the summer of 2004 was among the warmest summers of the satellite era (1982–2017) on the GBR. At least half of the GBR experienced temperatures that were high enough to initiate bleaching in other years, yet mass bleaching was not reported during 2004. The absence of bleaching is not fully explained by wind speed or cloud cover. Rather, 2004 is clearly differentiated from bleaching years by the slow speed of the East Australian Current (EAC) offshore of the GBR. An anomalously slow EAC during summer 2004 may have dampened the upwelling of nutrient-rich waters onto the GBR shelf, potentially mitigating bleaching due to the lower susceptibility of corals to heat stress in low-nutrient conditions. Although other factors such as irradiance or acclimatization may have played a role in the absence of mass bleaching, 2004 remains a key case study for demonstrating the dynamic nature of coral responses to marine heatwaves.

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