Do elevated nutrients and organic carbon on Philippine reefs increase the prevalence of coral disease?

Autor:	Longin T. Kaczmarsky, Laurie L. Richardson
Rok vydání:	2010
Předmět:	Cnidaria Total organic carbon geography education.field_of_study geography.geographical_feature_category biology Ecology Coral Population Porites Coral reef Aquatic Science biology.organism_classification Nutrient education Reef
Zdroj:	Coral Reefs. 30:253-257
ISSN:	1432-0975 0722-4028
DOI:	10.1007/s00338-010-0686-2
Popis:	Characterizations of Philippine coral diseases are very limited. The two most common, ulcerative white spot disease (UWS) and massive Porites growth anomalies (MPGA), target the genus Porites, a dominant reef-building genus. This is the first investigation in the Philippines to detect positive correlations between coral disease, nutrient levels, and organic carbon. A total of 5,843 Porites colonies were examined. Water and sediment samples were collected for analyses of nutrients (total nitrogen and phosphorus) and total organic carbon at 15 sites along a 40.5 km disease gradient, which was previously shown to positively correlate with human population levels. Results suggest that outbreaks of UWS and MPGAs are driven by elevated nutrient and organic carbon levels. Although the variables analyzed could be proxies for other causative agents (e.g., high sediment levels), the results provide quantitative evidence linking relatively higher coral disease prevalence to an anthropogenically impacted environment.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::397d930491d5e5a1fba46791911bd3f2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-010-0686-2 Zobrazit plný text záznamu Full text from SpringerLink