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Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Conclusion |
Monitoring the health and disease of Diploria strigosa in Bermuda Abstract The health of oceanic ecosystems in the Caribbean has been monitored heavily for the past twenty years. Studies concerning diseases, die-offs, specie interdependence, and human impacts have all played a role in understanding how and why the reduction of coral reefs has occurred. This research project is a follow up study, which observes the types of mortality inflicted on important reef building corals to see if the same trends monitored in the 1980's hold true today, and if any progress has been made with environmental protection acts. The common brain coral, Diploria strigosa, is a reef building coral that is abundant along Bermudian shores. D. strigosa health was studied based on outward signs of disease or death of coral polyps. Transects were used at two sites to collect numbers on healthy and diseased coral heads. The relative amount of diseased versus healthy tissue was also estimated. Black band disease (BBD), white patches, and algae overgrowth were all the forms of death witnessed. It is predicted that the amounts of healthy versus diseased corals will be site dependent due to differences between site locations in Bermuda.
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