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Press Release 07-050
Healthy Coral Reefs Hit Hard by Warmer Temperatures
Researchers conclusively link disease severity and ocean temperature
May 7, 2007
Coral disease outbreaks have struck the healthiest sections of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, where for the first time researchers have conclusively linked disease severity and ocean temperature. Close living quarters among coral may make it easy for infection to spread, researchers have found.
"With this study, speculation about the impacts of global warming on the spread of infectious diseases among susceptible marine species has been brought to an end," said Don Rice, director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Chemical Oceanography Program, which funded the research through the joint NSF-National Institutes of Health Ecology of Infectious Diseases Program.
The results are published May 8, 2007, in the online journal PLoS Biology.
For 6 years, the international research team, led by University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill, tracked an infection called white syndrome in 48 reefs along more than 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) of Australia's coastline.
The colorful coral colonies that attract visitors to the Great Barrier Reef live atop a limestone scaffolding built from the calcium carbonate secretions of each tiny coral, or polyp. While polyps provide the framework, coral's vivid hues come from symbiotic single-celled algae that live in the polyps. The algae supply much of the food coral need to survive.
When disease or stressful environmental conditions strike a coral colony, the polyps expel their algae. This algae loss makes the coral appear pale.
"We're left with a big question. Can corals and other marine species successfully adapt or evolve, when faced with such change?" Rice said.
Understanding the causes of disease outbreaks will help ecologists protect reef-building corals, which support commercial marine species and buffer low-lying coastal areas.
"More diseases are infecting more coral species every year, leading to the global loss of reef-building corals and the decline of other important species dependent on reefs," said lead study author John Bruno at UNC. "We've long suspected climate change is driving disease outbreaks. Our results suggest that warmer temperatures are increasing the severity of disease in the ocean."
The research also was funded by grants from the Environmental Protection Agency STAR Program; the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program; the Australian Institute of Marine Science; and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Co-authors include Elizabeth Selig, a graduate student in UNC's curriculum in ecology; Kenneth Casey, NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center; Cathie Page and Bette Willis, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University in Townsville, Australia; C. Drew Harvell, Cornell University; Hugh Sweatman, Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville, Australia; and Amy Melendy, UNC department of epidemiology.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 cdybas@nsf.gov
Becky Oskin, UNC (919) 962-8596 becky_oskin@unc.edu
Related Websites
The Ecology of Infectious Diseases: A Special Report: http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/ecoinf/index.jsp
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, its budget is $9.5 billion, which includes $3.0 billion provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 44,400 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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