A. PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY Advancing Knowledge and Capabilities to Understand Coral Physiology and Pathology

Signs abound in many areas that the natural plasticity of reef ecosystems to successfully respond to environmental (e.g., global climate change) and anthropogenic (e.g., land use, pollution) stressors has been exceeded. Vulnerable habitat conditions overlaid with multiple, concomitant stressors have compromised many coral communities to the point where their ability to rebound from natural disturbances is being lost. This is evidenced by the 27% loss of the world’s coral reefs (Wilkinson 2002) and by predictions that estimate another 30% will be lost or impaired in less than 25 years. These predictions indicate that the current list of approximately 30-40 fatal diseases impacting corals will expand as will the frequency and extent of “coral bleaching” (Wilkinson 2002) resulting in effects ranging from reduced fitness, to community shifts, and ultimately to destruction of reef physical and biological functioning as we know it today.