coral rogers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by coral rogers

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 1979

Shading of a 20 m2 area of San Cristobal Reef off southwestern Puerto Rico for five weeks altered... more Shading of a 20 m2 area of San Cristobal Reef off southwestern Puerto Rico for five weeks altered community structure and function by decreasing net primary productivity and respiration and by causing bleaching and death of several hard coral species. The prolonged exclusion of light was a partial simulation of extreme turbidity. Shading significantly reduced the growth rate of the dominant coral Acropora cervicornis (Lamarck) although the daily application of sediments to colonies of this species did not affect growth. Ten months after shading ceased, no new corals had settled on the dead corals which were rapidly colonized by algae. Although coral reefs are adapted to transient increases in turbidity, a continuous reduction in light penetration, for example after dredging, would severely alter community function and structure by decreasing photosynthesis, particularly in deeper reef zones where light is already limiting.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2009

Marine Ecology Progress Series, 1991

Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2000

... Local variability but landscape stability in coral reef communities following repeated hurric... more ... Local variability but landscape stability in coral reef communities following repeated hurricane impacts John C. Bythell 1, *, Zandy M. Hillis-Starr 2 , Caroline S. Rogers 3 ... 1981, Tunnicliffe 1983, Hughes &amp; Jackson 1985, Lang &amp; Chornesky 1990, Tanner 1997). ...

Marine Ecology Progress Series, 1990

Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2006

ABSTRACT: Caribbean coral reefs have changed dramatically in the last 3 to 4 decades, with signif... more ABSTRACT: Caribbean coral reefs have changed dramatically in the last 3 to 4 decades, with significant loss of coral cover and increases in algae. Here we present trends in benthic cover from 1989 to 2003 at 2 reefs (Lameshur Reef and Newfound Reef) off St. John, US ...

Coral Reefs, 2009

In the northeast Caribbean, doldrum-like conditions combined with elevated water temperatures in ... more In the northeast Caribbean, doldrum-like conditions combined with elevated water temperatures in the summer/fall 2005 created the most severe coral bleaching event ever documented within this region. Video monitoring of 100 randomly chosen, permanent transects at five study sites in the US Virgin Islands revealed over 90% of the scleractinian coral cover showed signs of thermal stress by paling or becoming completely white. Lower water temperatures in October allowed some re-coloring of corals; however, a subsequent unprecedented regional outbreak of coral disease affected all sites. Five known diseases or syndromes were recorded; however, most lesions showed signs similar to white plague. Nineteen scleractinian species were affected by disease, with >90% of the disease-induced lesions occurring on the genus Montastraea. The disease outbreak peaked several months after the onset of bleaching at all sites but did not occur at the same time. The mean number of disease-induced lesions increased 51-fold and the mean area of disease-associated mortality increased 13-fold when compared with pre-bleaching disease levels. In the 12 months following the onset of bleaching, coral cover declined at all sites (average loss: 51.5%, range: 42.4–61.8%) reducing the five-site average from 21.4% before bleaching to 10.3% with most mortality caused by white plague disease, not bleaching. Continued losses through October 2007 reduced the average coral cover of the five sites to 8.3% (average 2-year loss: 61.1%, range: 53.0–79.3%). Mean cover by M. annularis (complex) decreased 51%, Colpophyllia natans 78% and Agaricia agaricites 87%. Isolated disease outbreaks have been documented before in the Virgin Islands, but never as widespread or devastating as the one that occurred after the 2005 Caribbean coral-bleaching event. This study provides insight into the effects of continued seawater warming and subsequent coral bleaching events in the Caribbean and highlights the need to understand links between coral bleaching and disease.

Coral Reefs, 1993

A review of research on the effects of hurricanes on coral reefs suggests that the intermediate d... more A review of research on the effects of hurricanes on coral reefs suggests that the intermediate disturbance hypothesis may be applicable to shallow reef zones dominated by branching or foliaceous coral species that are especially susceptible to mechanical damage from storms. Diversity (H') increases because of an increase in evenness following destruction or removal of the species that was monopolizing the space. The intermediate disturbance hypothesis as presented by Connell focuses on changes in number of species, but should be expanded to include diversity (H') and evenness. It should also be modified to incorporate changes in living cover and the time elapsed since disturbances of varying intensities. This hypothesis predicts that when cover is high, diversity will be low. However, research on coral reefs does not consistently demonstrate an inverse correlation of coral diversity, and coral cover. An increase in cover and decrease in diversity with depth would also be expected because deeper reef zones generally experience less disturbance. However, higher diversity (both H' and species richness) is often associated with deeper zones. The effects of hurricanes on coral reefs will depend on the temporal and spatial scales under consideration, the life history characteristics and morphology of the dominant species, the depth of the reef zone, the ecological history of the site, and the influence of any additional natural or human stresses.

Fisheries Management and Ecology, 2007

Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 2010

Coral diseases have caused significant losses on Caribbean reefs and are becoming a greater conce... more Coral diseases have caused significant losses on Caribbean reefs and are becoming a greater concern in the Pacific. Progress in coral disease research requires collaboration and communication among experts from many different disciplines. The lack of consistency in the use of terms and names in the recent scientific literature reflects the absence of an authority for naming coral diseases, a lack of consensus on the meaning of even some of the most basic terms as they apply to corals, and imprecision in the use of descriptive words. The lack of consensus partly reflects the complexity of this newly emerging field of research. Establishment of a nomenclature committee under the Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC) could lead to more standardized definitions and could promote use of appropriate medical terminology for describing and communicating disease conditions in corals. This committee could also help to define disease terminology unique to corals where existing medical terminology is not applicable. These efforts will help scientists communicate with one another and with the general public more effectively. Scientists can immediately begin to reduce some of the confusion simply by explicitly defining the words they are using. In addition, digital photographs can be posted on the CDHC website and included in publications to document the macroscopic (gross) signs of the conditions observed on coral colonies along with precisely written characterizations and descriptions.

Coral Reefs, 2008

... Fig. 2 Relationship between disease prevalence and average water temperature at Hawksnest Bay... more ... Fig. 2 Relationship between disease prevalence and average water temperature at Hawksnest Bay, St John in 2005. ... Individual colonies of the same coral species often respond differently to temperature anomalies depending upon symbiotic algal genotypes (Rowan et al. ...