Coral Disease Risk and Impact Assessment Plan 2011 (SUPERSEDED)

Abstract

This document has been superseded by a second edition available at http://hdl.handle.net/11017/2809. While coral disease is often cryptic and has a lower profile than coral bleaching, it poses an equally significant threat to the Great Barrier Reef. These two impacts are not mutually exclusive as bleaching can greatly increase the susceptibility of corals to diseases. Under a changing climate, disease outbreaks are likely to increase in frequency and severity since: the pathogens that cause coral diseases are likely to become more virulent as sea temperatures increase and coral susceptibility to disease will increase due to increases in the frequency and severity of bleaching events and the frequency of severe cyclones. Since disease outbreaks of unprecedented severity and spatial extent, are likely in the future, reef managers have a responsibility to monitor, assess and respond to the socio-ecological impacts caused by coral disease and disease outbreaks.