Multi-Stressor Observations and Modeling to Build Understanding of and Resilience to the Coastal Impacts of Climate Change

Newton, Jan; MacCready, Parker; Siedlecki, Samantha A.; Manalang, Dana; Mickett, John B.; Alin, Simone R.; Schumacker, Ervin Joe; Hagen, Jennifer; Moore, Stephanie K.; Sutton, Adrienne J.; Carini, Roxanne J.

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2021.supplement.02-31

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While most regions experienced cooler temperatures and reduced disease in 2017, the exception was a cooler Puget Sound in 2018, which stood out as reflecting a temperature-disease association. Disease prevalence and severity were markedly lower in Puget Sound that year, coinciding with cooler La Niña conditions-including increased upwelling-that provided more cool, saline water to the area in spring 2018 [86]. This local anomaly in cooler temperatures and lower disease further supports the notion that cooler temperatures suppress disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Deeper habitats and cooler temperatures moderate a climate-driven seagrass disease

Graham

Stephens²,

Rappazzo

et al. 2023

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Eelgrass creates critical coastal habitats worldwide and fulfills essential ecosystem functions as a foundation seagrass. Climate warming and disease threaten eelgrass, causing mass mortalities and cascading ecological impacts. Subtidal meadows are deeper than intertidal and may also provide refuge from the temperature-sensitive seagrass wasting disease. From cross-boundary surveys of 5761 eelgrass leaves from Alaska to Washington and assisted with a machine-language algorithm, we measured outbreak conditions. Across summers 2017 and 2018, disease prevalence was 16% lower for subtidal than intertidal leaves; in both tidal zones, disease risk was lower for plants in cooler conditions. Even in subtidal meadows, which are more environmentally stable and sheltered from temperature and other stressors common for intertidal eelgrass, we observed high disease levels, with half of the sites exceeding 50% prevalence. Models predicted reduced disease prevalence and severity under cooler conditions, confirming a strong interaction between disease and temperature. At both tidal zones, prevalence was lower in more dense eelgrass meadows, suggesting disease is suppressed in healthy, higher density meadows. These results underscore the value of subtidal eelgrass and meadows in cooler locations as refugia, indicate that cooling can suppress disease, and have implications for eelgrass conservation and management under future climate change scenarios. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Infectious disease ecology and evolution in a changing world’.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%