A5015412513- Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
- Echinoderm biology and ecology
- Marine and coastal plant biology
- Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses
- Marine and fisheries research
United States Virgin Islands Department of Health
2023-2025
University of California, Santa Barbara
2022
The 1983-1984 die-off of the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum stands out as a catastrophic marine event because its detrimental effects on Caribbean coral reefs. Without grazing activities this key herbivore, turf and macroalgae became dominant benthic group, inhibiting recruitment compromising reef recovery from other disturbances. In decades that followed, D. populations was slow to non-existent. late January 2022, new mass mortality first observed in U.S. Virgin Islands. We...
Echinoderm mass mortality events shape marine ecosystems by altering the dynamics among major benthic groups. The sea urchin Diadema antillarum, virtually extirpated in Caribbean early 1980s an unknown cause, recently experienced another beginning January 2022. We investigated cause of this event through combined molecular biological and veterinary pathologic approaches comparing grossly normal abnormal animals collected from 23 sites, representing locations that were either affected or...
ABSTRACT Mass mortality of Diadematidae urchins, caused by the Diadema antillarum scuticociliatosis Philaster clade (DScPc) , affected Caribbean in spring 2022 and subsequently spread to eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, western Indian Ocean. A key question around (DSc), disease scuticociliate, is whether urchin microbiome varies between scuticociliatosis-affected grossly normal urchins. Tissue samples from both abnormal were collected field during initial assessment DSc causative agent an...
The magnitude of subsidies provided to the fishing sector by governments worldwide is immense—an estimated $35.4 billion USD per year. majority these may be impeding efforts sustainably manage fisheries incentivizing overfishing and overcapacity. Recognizing threat pose, World Trade Organization has set a goal reaching an agreement that would end contribute overcapacity, overfishing, illegal fishing. However, negotiations have been hampered uncertainty around likely effects reforming...