| Contributors | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Harvell, Drew | Cornell University (Cornell) | Principal Investigator |
| Mydlarz, Laura | University of Texas at Arlington (UT Arlington) | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Burge, Colleen | Cornell University (Cornell) | Contact |
| Rauch, Shannon | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO) | BCO-DMO Data Manager |
Health surveys of the sea fan Gorgonia ventalina were carried out from 2006 to 2010 at two coral reefs in La Parguera, Puerto Rico. The proportions of healthy and abnormal G. ventalina colonies along survey transects are reported.
Sampling and Analytical Methodology:
Sixteen 20 square-meter band transects were randomly laid (4 transects per depth) at two reefs in La Parguera, PR, Media Luna (3 to 18 m depths) and Buoy (18 to 25 m depths). Surveys occurred annually in September or October from 2006 to 2010 at Media Luna and 2007 to 2010 at Buoy. Along each transect all apparently healthy G. ventalina colonies and colonies with lesions were enumerated. Any purple or abnormally colored area on the sea fans was checked carefully. Lesions were also recorded and described as follows: large irregular purple spots (aspergillosis-like; full description Work and Aeby 2006), MFPS, predation, bleaching, and other abnormalities. Other abnormalities included growth anomalies, cyanobacteria, red band disease etc. Signs of predation by snails (flamingo tongue) and by fireworms were noted,. Prevalence (the total number of each abnormality divided by the total number of individuals) of each type of abnormality was calculated per transect, depth, and year.
Data Processing:
MFPS prevalence was arcsine transformed before data analysis to meet the assumptions of normality and equal variances (Zar 1999), and an ANCOVA was used to compare depth over time (using time as the co-variate) using IBM SPSS Statistics 17.0 (Insightful Corporation). Statistical differences among depths were identified using Fisher’s LSD test; however, due to the differences in depth and number of individuals within each site, the sites could not be compared.
| File |
|---|
sea_fan_survey.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 20.12 KB) MD5:a6b835b675b2694dd85b4f9626bc46ff Primary data file for dataset ID 3720 |
| Parameter | Description | Units |
| site | Name of the reef where sampling occurred. | text |
| lat | Latitude of the site. North = positive. | decimal degrees |
| lon | Longitude of the site. West = negative. | decimal degrees |
| year | 4-digit year of the survey. in YYYY format | unitless |
| month | 2-digit month of the survey. | mm (01 to 12) |
| depth | Depth of the survey. | meters |
| healthy_avg | Average percentage of sea fans per depth which were healthy. | % |
| bleached_avg | Average percentage of sea fans per depth which were bleached. | % |
| lg_purple_spts_avg | Average percentage of sea fans per depth which had Large Purple Spots. | % |
| MFPS_avg | Average percentage of sea fans per depth which had multi-focal purple spots (MFPS). | % |
| predation_avg | Average percentage of sea fans per depth which showed signs of predation. | % |
| other_avg | Average percentage of sea fans per depth which had other abnormalities. See Acquisition Description. | % |
| healthy_avg_sd | Standard deviation of healthy_avg. | % |
| bleached_avg_sd | Standard deviation of bleached_avg. | % |
| lg_purple_spts_avg_sd | Standard deviation of lg_purple_spts_avg. | % |
| MFPS_avg_sd | Standard deviation of MFPS_avg. | % |
| predation_avg_sd | Standard deviation of predation_avg. | % |
| other_avg_sd | Standard deviation of other_avg. | % |
| healthy | Percent healthy per transect. | % |
| bleached | Percent bleached per transect. | % |
| lg_purple_spts | Percent large purple spots (i.e. Aspergillosis-like) per transect. | % |
| MFPS | Percent multi-focal purple spots (MFPS) per transect. | % |
| predation | Percent sea fans with signs of predation per transect. | % |
| other | Percent sea fans with other abnormalities per transect. See Acquisition Description. | % |
| MFPS_log10 | log 10 transformed percent MFPS per transect. | % |
| Website | |
| Platform | shoreside PR_Keys_Reef |
| Start Date | 2006-09-01 |
| End Date | 2010-09-01 |
| Description | Four dive sites for the Harvell/Mydlarz project 'Influence of Temperature and Acidification on the Dynamics of Coral Co-Infection and Resistance':
Big Pine Ledges, Florida Keys: 24° 33.207 N, 81° 22.731 W
Laurel patch reef, La Parguera, Puerto Rico: 17° 56.608 N, 67° 03.208 W
Media Luna, La Parguera, Puerto Rico: 17°56.093 N, 67°02.931 W (3 to 18 m depths)
Buoy, La Parguera, Puerto Rico: 17° 53.38 N, 66° 59.09 W (18 to 25 m depths) |
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Coral reef ecosystems are highly endangered by recent increases in temperature and by projected increases in ocean acidification. Although temperature has been identified as a driver of some coral disease outbreaks, nothing is known about direct effects of acidification on host immunity and pathogen virulence, or the potential for synergism with temperature. Natural coral populations often suffer from simultaneous infection by multiple pathogens that can also influence host immune responses, but co-infection dynamics have not been investigated in invertebrate systems lacking classical adaptive immunity. Changing climate will very likely influence the outcome of single and co-infection.
This project will investigate the influence of environmental stress on co-infection dynamics of the sea fan coral, Gorgonia ventalina, with a fungal pathogen, Aspergillus sydowii and a protist parasite, SPX. The goal is to identify the mechanisms through which multiple infections, temperature and acidification modify host resistance, leading to changes in within- and among-colony rates of disease spread.
The objectives of this project are to:
(1) Identify incidence and co-infection frequency of Aspergillus sydowii and SPX. Detailed field surveys of the two diseases will test the hypothesis that co-infection is significant, provide valuable information about drivers of aspergillosis, and will help to characterize an emerging new sea fan disease.
(2) Investigate how co-infection influences sea fan susceptibility, resistance, and within host disease dynamics. Through manipulative lab inoculation experiments we will test the hypothesis that single infections increase susceptibility to a second pathogen.
(3) Examine the effects of temperature increase and ocean acidification on pathogen virulence, on underlying host resistance, and on the dynamics of single and co-infections.
The hypotheses that acidification will increase pathogen virulence and host susceptibility will be tested in a temperature and pH controlled experimental system. This system will also allow the potential synergistic effects of temperature and acidification on host immunity and co-infection dynamics to be explored. The primary intellectual merit of the proposed work will be a greater understanding of how changing climate mediates co-infection and immunity in a non-model invertebrate. While fungal pathogens are primarily opportunistic, labyrinthulid protozoans are recognized as primary pathogens in shellfish. Even in shellfish, little is known about co-infections involving labyrinthulids, and these protists are entirely unstudied in corals.
Publications associated with this project:
Burge CA, Douglas N, Conti-Jerpe I, Weil E, Roberts S, Friedman CS & CD Harvell. (May 2012) Friend or foe: the association of Labyrinthulomycetes with the Caribbean sea fan, Gorgonia ventalina. Dis Aquat Org. 101:1-12. doi: 10.3354/dao02487
Burge CA, Mouchka, ME, Harvell, CD & S Roberts. (In review) Immune response of the Caribbean sea fan, Gorgonia ventalina exposed to an Aplanochytrium parasite as revealed by transcriptome sequencing.
| Funding Source | Award |
|---|---|
| NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) |