Intervention and fate tracking for SCTLD in the northern Florida Reef Tract (2019)

"The purpose of this project was to continue monitoring coral disease incidence and prevalence in the northern portion of the Coral ECA and to experimentally test intervention strategies designed to 1) reduce coral tissue loss, 2) reduce the likelihood of total colony mortality, 3) reduce the probability of transmission to nearby colonies, and 4) reduce population declines in known areas of infection. This project was designed to improve understanding of the current spatial extent of the disease outbreak, prevalence, species affected, timeline of disease progression within colonies, likelihood of mortality due to disease among species, and the physiological responses of corals to disease. The outcomes of this project will contribute to on-going and future coral disease response efforts which seek to improve understanding about the severity and impacts of the Florida Reef Tract coral disease outbreak, identify management actions to remediate disease impacts, and, ultimately, prevent or mitigate the effects of future outbreaks."