David Kline's results on Panamanian corals reviewed by Science
March 01, 2006
Separate experiments showed that sugars led to an explosive growth of coral-associated bacteria not caused by other chemicals
Science writer Eli Kintisch wrote the article “Don't sugarcoat corals” in today’s issue of the journal (311: 1094) with results STRI postdoctoral fellow David Kline presented at the annual meetings of the AAAS (the publisher of Science). His findings suggest that carboninduced bacterial growth may be a major problem for Caribbean reefs, that have lost 80% of their coral cover in the last three decades. “As coastal populations near reefs have sky rocketed, scientists have fingered phosphates, nitrates, and ammonia as the most likely culprits.” Results by Kline—gathered from more than 3000 individual monthlong experiments on coral heads sampled at STRI's Bocas del Toro Research Station— show that almost 35% of corals exposed to carbon compounds died, vs about 7% of those given nitrate or phosphate.
“Separate experiments showed that sugars led to an explosive growth of coral-associated bacteria not caused by other chemicals. If this holds true in the ocean, says Kline, corals already under stress from warmer water temperatures and the loss of fish and urchins that eat algae may succumb directly to the rapid growth of the normally symbiotic bacteria. Or they may be weakened enough that the fleshy algae finally win out. Carbon-loading disrupts the balance between coral and its associated bacteria, leading to disease," says Kline, who will detail the work in Marine Ecology Progress Series next month.”
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