CRED Rapid Ecological Assessments of Coral Health and Disease in the Pacific Ocean 2005-2008

Abstract written by OBIS-USA using excerpts from CRED homepage.

Corals are the defining species in one of the highest diversity marine ecosystems, coral reefs. CRED studies of corals address basic questions concerning the distribution, abundance, and condition of corals and coral reefs throughout selected areas of the tropical and subtropical Pacific under U.S. jurisdiction.

The suite of questions addressed by CRED studies includes:

(1) What is the diversity and relative abundance of corals?

(2) How can the habitats in which corals occur be qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed?

(3) What is the spatial distribution of habitats in which corals occur?

(4) What is the capacity of corals to replenish populations over space and time?

(5) What are appropriate indicators of reef health?

(6) Are the reefs healthy?

(7) How are the reefs changing over time?

Several methods are used to address these questions. Any one method can address only a certain subset of questions; no one method can address them all. Methods used by CRED and its partners include towed divers surveys, Rapid Ecological Assessments (REAs), permanent transects, recruitment plates, and sampling for assessment of reproductive status.

Disease is defined as any impairment that interferes with or modifies the performance of normal physiological functions, including responses to environmental factors such as nutrients, toxicants, and climate; infectious agents; inherent or congenital defects; or a combination of these factors (Wobeser 2006). CRED has embarked on a long-term, broad-scale coral disease assessment and monitoring program aimed at documenting the prevalence of coral diseases on U.S. Pacific reefs and investigating factors that may be contributing to the occurrence of disease. Since 2006, and with direct support from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program, we have conducted coral disease surveys at: Johnston and Wake Atolls, the Line and Phoenix Islands, American Samoa, the main Hawaiian Islands, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Disease prevalence, for which no data existed in many of the U.S. Pacific jurisdictions prior to this project (e.g., Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands, Kingman Reef, Wake Atoll, and the CNMI), is now better characterized, and a better understanding of disease occurrence and potential impacts on U.S. Pacific coral reefs is emerging.