title: Reserves as tools for alleviating impacts of marine disease.
abstract: Marine protected areas can prevent over-exploitation, but their effect on marine diseases is less clear. We examined how marine reserves can reduce diseases affecting reef-building corals following acute and chronic disturbances. One year after a severe tropical cyclone, corals inside reserves had sevenfold lower levels of disease than those in non-reserves. Similarly, disease prevalence was threefold lower on reserve reefs following chronic exposure to terrestrial run-off from a degraded river catchment, when exposure duration was below the long-term site average. Examination of 35 predictor variables indicated that lower levels of derelict fishing line and injured corals inside reserves were correlated with lower levels of coral disease in both case studies, signifying that successful disease mitigation occurs when activities that damage reefs are restricted. Conversely, reserves were ineffective in moderating disease when sites were exposed to higher than average levels of run-off, demonstrating that reductions in water quality undermine resilience afforded by reserve protection. In addition to implementing protected areas, we highlight that disease management efforts should also target improving water quality and limiting anthropogenic activities that cause injury.
authors.affiliation: College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA, USA joleah.lamb@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Joleah B
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7005-9994
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lamb
authors.affiliation: Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Amelia S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Wenger
authors.affiliation: Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research, Catchment to Reef Research Group, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Michelle J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Devlin
authors.affiliation: Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Daniela M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ceccarelli
authors.affiliation: Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.affiliation: College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Bette L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Willis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000382:microbiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions
keywords: coral disease; marine protected areas; no-take reserve; pollution run-off; resilience; water quality