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Marine biology

The coral disease triangle

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The underlying causes of biodiversity loss can be numerous and difficult to identify. Now evidence suggests that disease outbreaks triggered by warming oceans are a primary cause of the disappearance of Caribbean coral reefs.

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Figure 1: Colonies of Orbicella (left) and Acropora (right) corals in the Caribbean.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. John F. Bruno is in the Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280, USA,

    John F. Bruno

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  1. John F. Bruno
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Correspondence to John F. Bruno.

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Bruno, J. The coral disease triangle. Nature Clim Change 5, 302–303 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2571

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