Bioturbation: Unpredictable Expansion

Abstract

At the same time as climate patterns were being studied to monitor and understand change, coral scientists were observing serious disturbances on the reefs. At first it was the invasion of seastars (especially the Crown-of-Thorns) on the Great Barrier Reef, later found all around the tropics; then the epizootic outbreak in the Caribbean. Soon followed the rapid spread of previously unknown coral diseases, identified and diagnosed as scientists worked to understand the causes of the outbreaks. More recently, coral trout have manifested skin lesions and abnormalities now identified as an early form of skin cancer. To add to this growing list of threats, more intensive cyclones were causing significantly greater reef damage. What was causing these widespread disturbances? .