Coral Disease Response: Completed Projects

Since 2015, DEP and numerous partners from federal, state and local governments, universities, nongovernmental organizations and the South Florida community have been communicating regularly and working together on a multifaceted response effort.

Completed Project Reports

Date	Author(s)	Title
November 2015	Brian Walker and Katelyn Klug	Southeast Florida Large Coral Assessment
June 2016	Esther Peters and Nicole Fogarty	Data collection to assess reef conditions before and during the 2014-2015 coral disease outbreak
June 2017	Brian Walker	Characterize the condition of previously known and newly identified large dense Acropora cervicornis patches in southeast Florida
June 2017	Jeff Maynard, James Byrne, Kristi Kerrigan, Dieter Tracey, Karen Bohnsack, Francisco Pagan, Joanna Walczak, Gareth J. Williams	Coral reef resilience to climate change in the Florida Reef Tract
June 2017	Kathleen Lunz, Jan Landsberg, Yasu Kiryu, and Vanessa Brinkhuis	Investigation of the coral disease outbreak affecting scleractinian coral species along the Florida Reef Tract
June 2018	Karen Neely and Cindy Lewis	In-Situ Disease Intervention
June 2018	Karen Neely	Ex-Situ Disease Treatment Trials
June 2018	Brian Walker and Alysha Brunelle	Southeast Florida Large (>2 meter) Diseased Coral Colony Intervention Summary Report
June 2018	William Sharp and Kerry Maxwell	Investigating the Ongoing Coral Disease Outbreak in the Florida Keys: Collecting Corals to Diagnose the Etiological Agent(s) and Establishing Sentinel Sites to Monitor Transmission Rates and the Spatial Progression of the Disease
June 2018	Keri O'Neil, Karen Neely, and Josh Patterson	Nursery Management and Treatment of Diseased Pillar Coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) on the Florida Reef Tract
June 2018	Ian Enochs and Graham Kolodziej	Ultraviolet Deactivation of Coral Disease Lesions
June 2018	Karen Neely	Surveying the Florida Keys Southern Coral Disease Boundary
June 2018	Brian Walker	Southeast Florida Reef-Wide Post-Irma Coral Disease Survey
June 2018	Erinn Muller, Robert van Woesik, and Constance Sartor	Spatial Epidemiology Modeling of the Florida Coral Disease Outbreak
June 2018	Blake Ushijima, Valerie Paul	Postdoctoral research in coral pathogen isolation
June 2018	Josh D. Voss, Ian Combs	Fate tracking, molecular investigation, and amputation assessment of tissue loss disease on corals in the northern Florida Reef Tract
July 2018	Karen Neely	Quick Look Report: Dendrogyra cylindrus spawning research
December 2018	Karen Neely, Emily Hower	In-Situ Disease Intervention (December 2018)
June 2019	William Sharp, Kerry Maxwell, and John Hunt	Investigating the ongoing coral disease outbreak in the Florida Keys: Evaluating its small-scale epidemiology and mitigation techniques
June 2019	Valerie Paul, Blake Ushijima, and Greta Aeby	Studies of the Ecology and Microbiology of Florida's Coral Tissue Loss Diseases
June 2019	Karen Neely	Ex Situ Disease Treatment Trials
June 2019	Mike Favero, Katie Balut, and Mark Levine	Amoxicillin Trihydrate Stability in Correlation with Coral Ointment Batch#18006-B and Simulated Seawater
June 2019	Brian Walker, Joana Figueiredo	Large Orbicella Assisted-Reproduction Report
June 2019	Brian Walker, Kelly Pitts	SE FL Reef-building-coral Response to Amoxicillin Intervention and Broader-scale Coral Disease Intervention
June 2019	Joshua D. Voss, Erin Shilling, Ian Combs	Intervention and fate tracking for corals affected by stony coral tissue loss disease in the northern Florida Reef Tract
June 2019	Karen Neely, Emily Hower, Kevin Macaulay	Florida Keys Coral Disease Strike Teams: FY 2018-2019 Final Report
August 2019	Karen Neely	Quick Look Report: Dendrogyra cylindrus spawning
March 2020	Karen Neely	Novel Treatment Options for Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease: Final Report
June 2020	Mike Favero, Katie Curtis	Creation and Release Profiles of Novel Biodegradable Ointments for Lesion Based and Whole Colony Treatment Methods to be Utilized in the Response to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease
June 2020	Joana Figueiredo, Brian Walker	Assisted Sexual Reproduction of Corals and Grow-out of Coral Recruits: Spawning Year 2019 Final Report
June 2020	Thomas Dobbelaere, Erinn Muller, Lew Gramer, Dan Hostein, Luke McEachron, Emmanuel Hanert	Using fine scale hydrodynamic modeling to characterize the transmission patterns of SCTLD within the water column of the Florida Reef Tract
June 2020	Thomas Dobbelaere, Erinn Muller, Lewis Gramer, Dan Holstein and Emmanuel Hanert	Report on the potential origin of the SCTLD in the Florida Reef Tract
June 2020	William Sharp, Kerry Maxwell, Kylie Smith, & John Hunt	Investigating the ongoing coral disease outbreak in the Florida Keys: continued SCTLD monitoring at middle and lower Florida Keys, experimental coral restoration of SCTLD- susceptible coral species, and assessing the prevalence of SCTLD on intermediate reef habitat
June 2020	Karen Neely	Florida Keys Coral Disease Strike Team: FY 19-20 Final Report
August 2020	Valerie J. Paul, Blake Ushijima, Kelly Pitts	Development of probiotics and alternative treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease - Task 2 and Task 3
August 2020	Julie Meyer	Development of probiotics and alternative treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease - Final report
August 2020	Brian Walker, Hunter Noren, Alysha Brunelle, and Samantha Buckley	SE Florida Reef-building-coral Disease Intervention and Preparation for Restoration
August 2020	Jennifer Salerno and Esther Peters	Microscopic and Microbial Insights into the SCTLD Outbreak Across Multiple Coral Species on Florida’s Coral Reef
August 2020	Michael G. Janech, Benjamin Neely, Frank Mari, and Cheryl Woodley	Metaproteomic Analysis of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease
August 2020	Greta Aeby, Valerie Paul, Jan Landsberg, and Yasu Kiryu	Studies on environmental co-factors potentially influencing the disease dynamics of Florida’s coral tissue loss diseases
August 2020	Joshua D. Voss, Erin Shilling, Ian Combs, Ashley Carreiro, Michael Studivan, and Jeff Beal	Intervention and fate tracking for corals affected by stony coral tissue loss disease in the northern section of Florida’s Coral Reef
September 2020	Karen Neely	Quick Look Report: Coral spawning (Dichocoenia stokesii, Pseudodiploria clivosa, and Pseudodiploria strigosa)
December 2020	Nikki Traylor-Knowles	Development Of A Biomarker System For SCTLD In Four Species Of Caribbean Corals
January 2021	David S. Gilliam, Joana Figueiredo, and Cassie M. VanWynen	Stony Coral Spawning Hubs in the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Area: Phase 1 Final Report
May 2021	Christina A. Kellogg and James S. Evans	Using size fractionation to determine whether the SCTLD pathogen is bacterial, viral, or other
June 2021	Caroline E. Dennison, Richard F. Karp, Bradley A. Weiler, Ashley Goncalves, Javier del Campo, Stephanie M. Rosales, Nikki Traylor-Knowles, and Andrew C. Baker	The role of algal symbionts (genus Breviolum) in the susceptibility of corals to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease in South Florida
June 2021	David S. Gilliam, Joana Figueiredo, Cassie M. VanWynen, and Hope E. Hefley	Stony Coral Spawning Hubs in the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Area: Phase I and II
June 2021	Jennifer L. Salerno and Esther C. Peters	Continuation of Microscopic and Microbial Insights into the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) Outbreak Across Multiple Coral Species on Florida’s Coral Reef
June 2021	Joshua D. Voss, Erin Shilling, Gabrielle Pantoni, Ryan Eckert, and Alexis Sturm	Advancing Coral Intervention and Resilience in Southeast Florida
June 2021	Joana Figueiredo, David Gilliam, Abby Renegar, and Brian Walker	Coral Propagation: Land-based and Offshore Nursery Phase II
June 2021	Diego Lirman and Dalton Hesley	100 Yards of Hope Reef Restoration Project
June 2021	Karen Neely	Florida Keys Coral Disease Strike Team: FY 2020/2021 Final Report
June 2021	Andy Bruckner, Karen Bohnsack, Alexandra Fine, Christopher Kelble, Lucas McEachron, Emily Milton, Kelly Montenero, Frank Muller-Karger, Tylar Murray, and Dan Oti	Florida’s Coral Reef Water Quality Data Compilation, Analysis and Decision Support
June 2021	Thierry M. Work	Final report on electron microscopy of Florida corals affected with stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD)
June 2021	Valerie J. Paul, Kelly A. Pitts, Paige Mandelare-Ruiz, and Yesmarie De La Flor	Development of alternative in situ treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease
June 2021	Blake Ushijima	Development of alternative in situ treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease
June 2021	Julie Meyer	Development of probiotics and alternative treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease
June 2021	Greta Aeby, Valerie Paul, Jan Landsberg, Yasu Kiryu	Studies on environmental co-factors potentially influencing the disease dynamics of Florida’s coral tissue loss diseases
June 2021	Joey Mandara	Coral Restoration and Youth Environmental Education
June 2021	Brian K. Walker, Gareth J. Williams, Jeffrey A. Maynard	Southeast Florida Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Area (Coral ECA) Reef-building Coral Disease Intervention, Statistical Modelling, and Preparation for Restoration Task 6 Final Report: Environmental drivers of stony coral tissue loss disease
June 2021	Brian K. Walker, Nicholas R. Turner, Alysha Brunelle, Hunter Noren, Samantha Buckley	2020-2021 Coral ECA Reef-building-coral Disease Intervention and Preparation for Restoration
June 2021	Michael G. Janech, Benjamin Neely, Frank Mari, Elizabeth Duselis, Cheryl Woodley	Metaproteomic Analysis of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease
June 2022	Brian K. Walker, Hunter Noren, Reagan Sharkey, Samantha Buckley	2021-2022 SE FL ECA Reef-building-coral Disease Intervention and Preparation for Restoration
June 2022	Karen Neely, Rob Whitehead, Michelle Dobler	The Effect of Disease Lesions and Amoxicillin Treatment on the Physiology of SCTLD-affected Corals
June 2022	Richard F. Karp, Caroline E. Dennison, Esther C. Peters, Andrew C. Baker	The role of algal symbionts in stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD): Comparison with cultured isolates from five different Symbiodiniaceae genera, and role of temperature in disease dynamics
June 2022	Valerie J. Paul, Jonathan Lefcheck, Kelly Pitts, Samantha Scheibler, Tessa Vekich	Investigation of temperature as a driver of stony coral tissue loss disease dynamics
June 2022	Valerie J. Paul, Kelly A. Pitts, Paige Mandelare-Ruiz, Natalie Danek, Zachary Ferris, Thomas DeMarco	Development of alternative in situ treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease
June 2022	Karen Neely	Florida Keys Coral Disease Strike Team: FY 2021/2022 Final Report
June 2022	Karen Bohnsack, Andy Bruckner, Alexandra Fine, Lauren Gentry, Christopher Kelble, David Kochan, Lucas McEachron, Kelly Montenero, Frank Muller-Karger, Tylar Murray, Dan Otis	Florida’s Coral Reef Water Quality Data Compilation, Analysis, and Decision Support Year 2
June 2022	Erin Papke, Dr. Blake Ushijima	Using a surrogate model system to screen for pathogen(s) associated with SCTLD
June 2022	Julie L. Meyer, Jessica Tittl, Sydney Reed	Development of alternative in situ treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease and investigation of temperature as a driver of stony coral tissue loss disease dynamics
June 2022	Karli Hollister, Rachel Johns, Evan Hovey, Amelia Lynch Melissa Heres, Jordan Holder, Clayton Pollock	Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) Reconnaissance, Intervention, and Monitoring in Dry Tortugas National Park
June 2022	Brian K. Walker, Gareth J. Williams, Greta S. Aeby, Jeffrey A. Maynard, David Whitall	Environmental and human drivers of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) incidence within the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Area Final Report
June 2022	Joshua D. Voss, Erin Shilling, Gabrielle Pantoni, Ryan Eckert, Haley Davis, Lexie Sturm, Ashley Carreiro, Sydney Bell	2022 Advancing Coral Reef Research and Resilience in Southeast Florida
June 2022	Rebecca Vega Thurber, Adrienne M.S. Correa, Samantha Coy, Alex Veglia, Eddie Fuques	Meta-transcriptomics to determine if and how viruses are involved in SCTLD infection status and/or disease susceptibility
June 2022	Diego Lirman, Mark Ladd, Erinn Muller, Hannah Koch, Dave Gilliam, Joanna Figueiredo, Keri O’Neil, Andrew Shantz	Methods to improve the success of SCTLD-susceptible coral species outplanted for restoration: From lab to nursery to reef
June 2022	Daniel M. Holstein, Thomas Dobbelaere, Lew Gramer, Emmanuel Hanert, Luke McEachron, Erinn Muller, Sara Williams	Extending biophysical and epidemiological simulations of larval connectivity and SCTLD spread to inform mitigation and restoration
June 2022	Abigail Renegar	Florida Disease Response Coral Rescue – NSU
June 2022	Joana Figueiredo	Coral Propagation: Land-based and Offshore Nursery Phase III
June 2022	Stephanie Preising, Erin Papke, Michelle Heck, Valerie Paul, Blake Ushijima	Identification and virulence testing of Symbiodiniaceae-associated viral particles from Florida corals
June 2022	Nikki Fogarty Louis-Pierre Rich	Supporting aquarium-induced spawning and experiments to enhance coral propagation and restoration
June 2022	Margaret Walter, Blake Ushijima	Development of alternative in situ treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease
June 2023	Blake Ushijima, Valerie Paul, Michelle Heck	Identification and virulence testing of symbiont-associated viral particles from Florida corals
June 2023	Lydia Baker, Stephanie Rosales, Nikki Traylor-Knowles	Development of physical and sequence enrichment methods for the detection of species and strain-level variations in SCTLD-associated bacteria to characterize their functional potential
June 2023	Ana Palacio, Michael Studivan, Ian Enochs	Assessing the effects of environmental cofactors on Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) transmission and progression rates
June 2023	Brian Walker, Greta Aeby, Andrew Baker, Samantha Buckley, Neha Garg, Aine Hawthorne, Julie Meyer, Karen Neely, Hunter Noren, Valerie Paul, Reagan Sharkey, Nikki Traylor-Knowles, Josh Voss, David Whitall, Gareth Williams, Cheryl Woodley, and Thierry Work.	SCTLD Resistance Research Consortium Summary Report through May 2023
June 2023	Blake Ushijima, Valerie Paul, Julie Meyers	Development of alternative in situ treatments for stony coral tissue loss disease
June 2023	Josh Voss, Ashley Carreiro, Haley Davies, Gabrielle Pantoni, Erin Shilling, Ryan Eckert, and Sydney Bell	Advancing coral reef research and resilience in Southeast Florida
June 2023	Brian Walker, Hunter Noren, Reagan Sharkey, Samantha Buckley, and Amanda Zummo	2022-2023 SE FL ECA Reef-building-coral Disease Intervention and Preparation for Restoration
June 2023	Karen Neely	Florida Keys Coral Disease Intervention Strike Teams
June 2023	Richard Karp, Caroline Dennison, Kick Kron, Andrew Baker	The use of algal symbiont cultures (Family Symbiodiniaceae) as model systems to study stony coral tissue loss disease: Use of fractionated disease isolates to help with pathogen identification
June 2023	Olivia Williamson, Andrew Baker, Keri L. O'Neil	Investigating heritability and drivers of resistance to stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) using endemic and rescue corals
June 2023	Joshua Patterson, Keri O'Neil, Mark Ladd, Dana Williams, Jason Spadaro	Improving and expanding the portfolio of grazers available for coral co-culture and reef restoration
June 2023	Abigail Renegar and Kyle Pisano	Florida Disease Response Coral Rescue and Propagation - NSU
June 2023	Nicole Fogarty, Louis-Pierre Rich, Ashley Weeks, Meg Van Horn	Examining novel techniques in lab-based spawning to upscale coral restoration efforts
June 2023	Patricia Bradley and Ben Jessup	Calibration of the Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) for Florida’s Coral Reef
June 2023	Diego Lirman and Martine D'Alessandro	The Role of Outplant Density on Coral Survivorship, Growth, Predation Impacts, and Disease Spread
June 2023	Joanna Figureido, David Gilliam, Leneita Fix, Charles Gregory, Daniel Holstein, and Benjamin Limer	Coral Propagation: Land-based and Offshore Nursery Phase IV
June 2024	Abigail Renegar, Kyle Pisano, Amanda Travers	Florida Disease Response Coral Rescue and Propagation - NSU

Disease Response Coordination Meetings

July 11-13, 2018

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program held a workshop on July 11-13, 2018, in Key Largo to create a comprehensive response plan to address the coral disease outbreak. The workshop focused on developing collaborative partnerships between resource managers and scientists to identify potential pathogens, document the outbreak, understand contributing factors, and aggressively pursue interventions. We are quickly compiling the workshop outcomes to create a framework for adaptive decision-making about intervention actions, resource capacity and funding needs, regulatory issues and community engagement.

Nov. 6-8, 2017

DEP staff collaborated with staff from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to lead a three-day coral disease meeting to discuss the next phase of coral disease response efforts. Made possible by funds appropriated by the Florida Legislature and Governor Scott, the meeting was attended by approximately 40 participants, including leading coral disease scientists and animal health experts. To review the summaries and objectives from this meeting, please see below and click on the following links:

Intervention Methodologies Workshop: Nov. 6, 2017

Priority Sampling Plan Workshop: Nov. 7-8, 2017

July 24-25, 2017

DEP staff partnered with coral disease experts Greta Aeby from the University of Hawaii and Blake Ushijima from Oregon State University to host a two-day coral disease meeting. Approximately 125 participants representing a variety of agencies, organizations, universities and the South Florida community attended. The meeting included information on coral disease identification, ecology and investigation techniques. To review the meeting material and recordings, please follow the links below:

For 508-Compliant versions, please email Coral@FloridaDEP.gov.

Regional Coordination Calls

To improve communication about the status of the coral disease outbreak and coordination among reef managers, scientists and interested members of the community regarding these response efforts, DEP initiated coordination phone calls in summer 2015. Although initially focused on mainland southeast Florida where the disease outbreak originated, these coordination calls were re-established during summer 2016 to include the entire Florida Reef Tract and are currently ongoing. Follow the links below to review a meeting summary from any of these calls:

Regional Southeast Florida Calls:

Florida Reef Tract-Wide Calls:

Coral Quick links

Completed Project Reports

Disease Response Coordination Meetings

Regional Coordination Calls