NOAA's Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina Wilmington
Project Summary: 2005–08B

2005 Project Summaries

Project Summary for 2005–08B: Epidemiology of the coral disease white plague on Florida's reefs

The proposed research will address the hypothesis that the dynamics of the disease white plague that affects coral populations on Florida’s reefs are influenced by three factors: the spatial spread and structure of infection in nature; environmental reservoirs of the causative pathogen; and variability in host immunity partially arising from acquired resistance. Three specific aims are as follows:

• Describe the epidemiology of WP on reefs of the northern Florida Keys, (including healthy, infected, subclinically infected D. stokesi colonies, and possible environmental reservoirs, detected using a molecular probe specific to the pathogen).
• Map WP disease distributions using a GIS and develop a spatially explicit epidemiological model of disease dynamics (year 1); parameterize and validate model by testing predicted disease dynamics (year 2).
• Use laboratory experimental challenge to evaluate D. stokesi and M. annularis colonies collected from the field for acquired immunity and natural resistance to disease.

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