Facts : 1 Impact and range Since white band disease was first reported in the 1970s, the disease has led to the devastation of approximately 95 %%% of the elkhorn and staghorn corals in the Caribbean region
Facts : 2 This resulted in both affected species being listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act and as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List
Facts : 3 The decline in these corals has a lasting effect on both humans and the environment
Facts : 4 Coral reefs protect coastlines from ocean currents, waves, and storms, and the death of these corals only increases the loss of coastlines in affected regions
Facts : 5 Elkhorn and staghorn corals are two of the major reef-building corals, the foundation on which the rest of the coral reef is formed
Facts : 6 Its loss means the loss of a habitat for many coral reef dwelling species such as lobsters, parrot-fish, snapper shrimps, and many other reef species, causing a sharp decline in the biodiversity of an affected region
Facts : 7 Coral reefs are also home to more than twenty-five percent of all marine fish species, making them extremely biologically diverse
Facts : 8 The loss of this coral would be particularly damaging to people living on the coast in terms of the food supply, coastal protection, economic security and more
Facts : 9 Nearly 500 million people directly depend on coral reefs for food and income (through tourism or otherwise)
Facts : 10 Elkhorn coral absorbs much carbon dioxide from the ocean every year, preventing ocean acidification and ocean temperature increases
Facts : 11 Upon decomposing, Elkhorn coral releases its sequestered carbon dioxide back into the ocean, heating it and contributing to acidification
Facts : 12 In recent decades, the coral cover in coral reefs has been declining, providing for a transitional increase in the fleshy macroalgae cover in the Caribbean region as more and more filamentous algae colonize inside of the coral skeletons
Facts : 13 The death of elkhorn and staghorn corals also substantially reduces coral cover and provides substratum space for further algal growth
Facts : 14 Prospects are poor for the recovery of the elkhorn coral, given its asexual method of reproduction, which relies on coral fragments breaking off from the main body and growing in a new area
Facts : 15 Staghorn coral also relies on asexual fragmentation as its primary method of reproduction, however, staghorn coral possesses a higher rate of sexual recruitment than Elkhorn
