Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Relationships between temperature, bleaching and white syndrome on the Great Barrier Reef

  • Report
  • Published:
Coral Reefs Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Coral bleaching and disease have often been hypothesized to be mutually reinforcing or co-occurring, but much of the research supporting this has only drawn an implicit connection through common environmental predictors. In this study, we examine whether an explicit relationship between white syndrome and bleaching exists using assemblage-level monitoring data from up to 112 sites on reef slopes spread throughout the Great Barrier Reef over 11 years of monitoring. None of the temperature metrics commonly used to predict mass bleaching performed strongly when applied to these data. Furthermore, the inclusion of bleaching as a predictor did not improve model skill over baseline models for predicting white syndrome. Similarly, the inclusion of white syndrome as a predictor did not improve models of bleaching. Evidence for spatial co-occurrence of bleaching and white syndrome at the assemblage level in this data set was also very weak. These results suggest the hypothesized relationship between bleaching and disease events may be weaker than previously thought, and more likely to be driven by common responses to environmental stressors, rather than directly facilitating one another.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

References

  • Ainsworth TD, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2009) Bacterial communities closely associated with coral tissues vary under experimental and natural reef conditions and thermal stress. Aquat Biol 4:289–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ainsworth T, Kvennefors E, Blackall L, Fine M, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2007) Disease and cell death in white syndrome of acroporid corals on the Great Barrier Reef. Mar Biol 151:19–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anselin L (1995) Local indicators of spatial association - LISA. Geographical Analysis 27:93–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anthony KRN, Connolly SR, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2007) Bleaching, energetics, and coral mortality risk: Effects of temperature, light, and sediment regime. Limnol Oceanogr 52:716–726

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banin E, Vassilakos D, Orr E, Martinez RJ, Rosenberg E (2003) Superoxide dismutase is a virulence factor produced by the coral bleaching pathogen Vibrio shiloi. Curr Microbiol 46:418–422

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Haim Y, Zicherman-Keren M, Rosenberg E (2003) Temperature-regulated bleaching and lysis of the coral Pocillopora damicornis by the novel pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:4236–4242

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Berkelmans R, Oliver JK (1999) Large-scale bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 18:55–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkelmans R, Willis BL (1999) Seasonal and local spatial patterns in the upper thermal limits of corals on the inshore Central Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 18:219–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkelmans R, De’ath G, Kininmonth S, Skirving WJ (2004) A comparison of the 1998 and 2002 coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef: spatial correlation, patterns, and predictions. Coral Reefs 23:74–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyett HV, Bourne DG, Willis BL (2007) Elevated temperature and light enhance progression and spread of black band disease on staghorn corals of the Great Barrier Reef. Mar Biol 151:1711–1720

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brandt ME, McManus JW (2009) Disease incidence is related to bleaching extent in reef-building corals. Ecology 90:2859–2867

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bruckner AW, Hill RL (2009) Ten years of change to coral communities off Mona and Desecheo Islands, Puerto Rico, from disease and bleaching. Dis Aquat Org 87:19–31

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bruno JF, Selig ER, Casey KS, Page CA, Willis BL, Harvell CD, Sweatman H, Melendy AM (2007) Thermal stress and coral cover as drivers of coral disease outbreaks. PLoS Biol 5:e124. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050124

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Croquer A, Weil E (2009) Changes in Caribbean coral disease prevalence after the 2005 bleaching event. Dis Aquat Org 87:33–43

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Donner SD (2011) An evaluation of the effect of recent temperature variability on the prediction of coral bleaching events. Ecol Appl 21:1718–1730

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fitt WK, Brown BE, Warner ME, Dunne RP (2001) Coral bleaching: interpretation of thermal tolerance limits and thermal thresholds in tropical corals. Coral Reefs 20:51–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gleeson MW, Strong AE (1995) Applying MCSST to coral reef bleaching. Adv Space Res 16:151–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1996) Coral reef bleaching: Facts, hypotheses and implications. Global Change Biol 2:495–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goreau TJ, Hayes RL (1994) Coral bleaching and ocean hot-spots. Ambio 23:176–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvell D, Kim K, Quirolo C, Weir J, Smith G (2001) Coral bleaching and disease: contributors to 1998 mass mortality in Briareum asbestinum (Octocorallia, Gorgonacea). Hydrobiologia 460:97–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvell D, Jordan-Dahlgren E, Merkel S, Rosenberg E, Raymundo L, Smith G, Weil E, Willis B, Global Environment Facility C (2007) Coral disease, environmental drivers, and the balance between coral and microbial associates. Oceanography 20:172–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes RL, Goreau NI (1998) The significance of emerging diseases in the tropical coral reef ecosystem. Rev Biol Trop 46:173–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Heron SF, Willis BL, Skirving WJ, Eakin CM, Page CA, Miller IR (2010) Summer Hot Snaps and Winter Conditions: Modelling White Syndrome outbreaks on Great Barrier Reef corals. PLoS ONE 5:e12210. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012210

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jiménez C (2001) Seawater temperature measured at the surface and at two depths (7 and 12 m) in one coral reef at Culebra Bay, Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica. Rev Biol Trop 49:153–161

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones RJ (2008) Coral bleaching, bleaching-induced mortality, and the adaptive significance of the bleaching response. Mar Biol 154:65–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones RJ, Bowyer J, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Blackall LL (2004) Dynamics of a temperature-related coral disease outbreak. Mar Ecol-Prog Ser 281:63–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kvennefors ECE, Sampayo E, Ridgway T, Barnes AC, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2010) Bacterial communities of two ubiquitous Great Barrier Reef corals reveals both site- and species-specificity of common bacterial associates. PLoS ONE 5:e10401. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010401

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liu G, Strong AE, Skirving W (2003) Remote sensing of sea surface temperatures during 2002 Barrier Reef coral bleaching. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union 84:137–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lough JM (2000) 1997-98: Unprecedented thermal stress to coral reefs? Geophys Res Lett 27:3901–3904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maina J, Venus V, McClanahan TR, Ateweberhan M (2008) Modelling susceptibility of coral reefs to environmental stress using remote sensing data and GIS models. Ecol Model 212:180–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maynard JA, Turner PJ, Anthony KRN, Baird AH, Berkelmans R, Eakin CM, Johnson J, Marshall PA, Packer GR, Rea A, Willis BL (2008) ReefTemp: An interactive monitoring system for coral bleaching using high-resolution SST and improved stress predictors. Geophys Res Lett 35, L05603, 5 pp. doi:10.1029/2007GL032175

  • Maynard JA, Anthony KRN, Harvell CD, Burgman MA, Beeden R, Sweatman H, Heron SF, Lamb JB, Willis BL (2011) Predicting outbreaks of a climate-driven coral disease in the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 30:485–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, Ateweberhan M, Sebastian CR, Graham NAJ, Wilson SK, Bruggemann JH, Guillaume MMM (2007) Predictability of coral bleaching from synoptic satellite and in situ temperature observations. Coral Reefs 26:695–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menard S (1995) Applied Logistic regression analysis: Sage University Series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller J, Waara R, Muller E, Rogers C (2006) Coral bleaching and disease combine to cause extensive mortality on reefs in US Virgin Islands. Coral Reefs 25:418–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moran PAP (1950) Notes on continuous stochastic phenomena. Biometrika 37:17–23

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muller EM, van Woesik R (2009) Shading reduces coral-disease progression. Coral Reefs 28:757–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller EM, Rogers CS, Spitzack AS, van Woesik R (2008) Bleaching increases likelihood of disease on Acropora palmata (Lamarck) in Hawksnest Bay, St John, US Virgin Islands. Coral Reefs 27:191–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mydlarz LD, Couch CS, Weil E, Smith G, Harvell CD (2009) Immune defenses of healthy, bleached and diseased Montastraea faveolata during a natural bleaching event. Dis Aquat Org 87:67–78

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mydlarz LD, McGinty ES, Harvell CD (2010) What are the physiological and immunological responses of coral to climate warming and disease? J Exp Biol 213:934–945

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls RJ, Wong PP, Burkett VR, Codignotto JO, Hay JE, McLean RF, Ragoonaden S, Woodroffe CD (2007) Coastal systems and low-lying areas. In: Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, Linden PJvd, Hanson CE (eds) Climate change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, pp 315–356

  • Ord JK, Getis A (1995) Local spatial autocorrelation statistics: distributional issues and an application. Geogr Anal 27:286–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peirce CS (1884) The numerical measure of the success of predictions. Science 4:453–454

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reshef L, Koren O, Loya Y, Zilber-Rosenberg I, Rosenberg E (2006) The coral probiotic hypothesis. Environ Microbiol 8:2068–2073

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Richier S, Cottalorda JM, Guillaume MMM, Fernandez C, Allemand D, Furla P (2008) Depth-dependant response to light of the reef building coral, Pocillopora verrucosa: Implication of oxidative stress. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 357:48–56

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ripley BD (1976) The second-order analysis of stationary point processes. J Appl Prob 13:255–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ripley BD (1977) Modelling spatial patterns. JR Stat Soc B 39:172–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Roff G, Kvennefors ECE, Fine M, Ortiz J, Davy JE, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2011) The ecology of ‘Acroporid White Syndrome’, a coral disease from the Southern Great Barrier Reef. PLoS ONE 6:e26829. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026829

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg E, Kushmaro A, Kramarsky-Winter E, Banin E, Yossi L (2009) The role of microorganisms in coral bleaching. ISME J 3:139–146

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Selig ER, Casey KS, Bruno JF (2010) New insights into global patterns of ocean temperature anomalies: implications for coral reef health and management. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 19:397–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokolow S (2009) Effects of a changing climate on the dynamics of coral infectious disease: a review of the evidence. Dis Aquat Org 87:5–18

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson DB (2000) Use of the “odds ratio” for diagnosing forecast skill. Weather Forecast 15:221–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweatman H, Cheal A, Coleman G, Emslie M, Johns K, Jonker M, Miller I, Osborne K (2008) Long-term monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef, Status Report No. 8. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville

  • van Hooidonk R, Huber M (2009) Quantifying the quality of coral bleaching predictions. Coral Reefs 28:579–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vinebrooke RD, Cottingham KL, Norberg J, Scheffer M, Dodson SI, Maberly SC, Sommer U (2004) Impacts of multiple stressors on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: The role of species co-tolerance. Oikos 104:451–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willis BL, Page CA, Dinsdale EA (2004) Coral disease on the Great Barrier Reef. In: Rosenberg E, Loya Y (eds) Coral health and disease. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 69–104

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wolanski E, Hamner W (1988) Topographically controlled fronts in the ocean and their biological influence. Science 241:177–181

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wooldridge S (2007) Quantifying the synergistic interaction between thermal stress and water quality in determining the bleaching sensitivity of inshore reefs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility, Townsville, p 21

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Scott Heron and Jeff Maynard for assistance with temperature metric calculations, the members of the Australian Institute for Marine Science (AIMS) Long-term Monitoring Program for collecting these data, Angus Thompson and Hugh Sweatman for kindly providing the AIMS data sets and answering our questions about them, and feedback from Jonathan Belmaker and two anonymous reviewers that helped to improve this manuscript. This research was supported by the Australian Research Council and James Cook University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    S. S. Ban, N. A. J. Graham & S. R. Connolly

  2. School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    S. R. Connolly

Authors
  1. S. S. Ban
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N. A. J. Graham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. R. Connolly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. S. Ban.

Additional information

Communicated by Environment Editor Prof. Rob van Woesik

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ban, S.S., Graham, N.A.J. & Connolly, S.R. Relationships between temperature, bleaching and white syndrome on the Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 32, 1–12 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0944-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0944-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation