CCMI nursery coral disease 2019

Marine infectious diseases are a leading cause of population declines globally due, in large part, to challenges in diagnosis and limited treatment options. Mitigating disease spread is particularly important for species targeted for conservation. In some systems, the strategic arrangement of organisms in space can constrain disease outbreaks, however, this approach has not been used in marine restoration. Reef-building corals have been particularly devastated by disease and continue to experience catastrophic population declines. Here, we opportunistically tracked white band disease in Acropora cervicornis as it moved through a coral nursery in Little Cayman, CI. We show mixtures of genotypes led to less prevalence of disease in nursery-reared Acropora cervicornis compared to corals on single genotype frames.