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    Selective impact of disease on coral communities: Outbreak of white syndrome causes significant total mortality of acropora plate corals

    231599_231599.pdf (2.641Mb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Hobbs, Jean-Paul
    Frisch, A.
    Newman, Stephen
    Wakefield, Corey
    Date
    2015
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Hobbs, J. and Frisch, A. and Newman, S. and Wakefield, C. 2015. Selective impact of disease on coral communities: Outbreak of white syndrome causes significant total mortality of acropora plate corals. PLoS ONE. 10 (7).
    Source Title
    PLoS ONE
    DOI
    10.1371/journal.pone.0132528
    School
    Department of Environment and Agriculture
    Remarks

    This open access article is distributed under the Creative Commons license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21095
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Coral diseases represent a significant and increasing threat to coral reefs. Among the most destructive diseases is White Syndrome (WS), which is increasing in distribution and prevalence throughout the Indo-Pacific. The aim of this study was to determine taxonomic and spatial patterns in mortality rates of corals following the 2008 outbreak of WS at Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. WS mainly affected Acropora plate corals and caused total mortality of 36% of colonies across all surveyed sites and depths. Total mortality varied between sites but was generally much greater in the shallows (0–96% of colonies at 5 m depth) compared to deeper waters (0–30% of colonies at 20 m depth). Site-specific mortality rates were a reflection of the proportion of corals affected by WS at each site during the initial outbreak and were predicted by the initial cover of live Acropora plate cover. The WS outbreak had a selective impact on the coral community. Following the outbreak, live Acropora plate coral cover at 5 m depth decreased significantly from 7.0 to 0.8%, while the cover of other coral taxa remained unchanged. Observations five years after the initial outbreak revealed that total Acropora plate cover remained low and confirmed that corals that lost all their tissue due to WS did not recover. These results demonstrate that WS represents a significant and selective form of coral mortality and highlights the serious threat WS poses to coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific.

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