I found this interesting: “If viruses are causing disease or bleaching of colonies, it’s also unknown whether this is happening now more than in the past.” Sort of like ocean acidification, they don’t have any long term data.
UPDATE: Commenter “Climate Weenie” says it best in comments to this story:
Remember ‘Global Warming is killing the frogs?’ – turned out to be fungus spread by biologists.
‘Global Warming is killing the bees!’ – parasites
‘Global Warming is killing the bats!’ – fungus
Now, ‘Global Warming is killing the coral!’ – virus.
From Oregon State University:
Viruses linked to algae that control coral health
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Scientists have discovered two viruses that appear to infect the single-celled microalgae that reside in corals and are important for coral growth and health, and they say the viruses could play a role in the serious decline of coral ecosystems around the world.
These viruses, including an RNA virus never before isolated from a coral, have been shown for the first time to clearly be associated with these microalgae called Symbiodinium. If it’s proven that they are infecting those algae and causing disease, it will be another step toward understanding the multiple threats that coral reefs are facing.
The research was published today in the ISME Journal, in work supported by the National Science Foundation.
“We’re way behind in our knowledge of how viral disease may affect coral health,” said Adrienne Correa, a researcher with the Department of Microbiology at Oregon State University. “If viral infection is causing some bleaching, it could be important in the death of corals and contribute to reef decline. This potential threat from viruses is just starting to be recognized.”
Corals co-exist with these algae in a symbiotic relationship, scientists say, in which the algae provide energy to the coral, and contribute to the construction of reefs. The coral in turn offers a place for the algae to live and provides nutrients for it.
Corals and viruses have evolved along with their resident algae for millions of years. They have persisted through previous climate oscillations, and the presence of viruses within corals or their algae doesn’t necessarily indicate they are affecting coral colony health. If viruses are causing disease or bleaching of colonies, it’s also unknown whether this is happening now more than in the past.
“Corals are known to face various environmental threats, such a warming temperatures, competition and pollution,” Correa said. “Some of the environmental changes of the past were likely more gradual and allowed the coral and its associates more time to adapt.
“The stresses challenging coral reefs now are more intense and frequent,” she said. “This may mean viruses cause more problems for corals and their algae now than they did historically.”
In continued research at OSU, scientists will inoculate Symbiodinium with the viruses and try to prove they are causing actual disease. If the viruses are killing the algae, scientists said, it could have significant implications for coral reef health and survival. There are almost two dozen known diseases that are affecting coral, and scientists still do not know the cause of most of them.
Coral abundance has declined about 80 percent in the Caribbean Sea in the past 30-40 years, and about one-third of all corals around the world are threatened with extinction.
Here’s the abstract:
Unique nucleocytoplasmic dsDNA and +ssRNA viruses are associated with the dinoflagellate endosymbionts of corals
Adrienne M S Correa, Rory M Welsh and Rebecca L Vega Thurber
Abstract
The residence of dinoflagellate algae (genus: Symbiodinium) within scleractinian corals is critical to the construction and persistence of tropical reefs. In recent decades, however, acute and chronic environmental stressors have frequently destabilized this symbiosis, ultimately leading to coral mortality and reef decline. Viral infection has been suggested as a trigger of coral–Symbiodinium dissociation; knowledge of the diversity and hosts of coral-associated viruses is critical to evaluating this hypothesis.
Here, we present the first genomic evidence of viruses associated with Symbiodinium, based on the presence of transcribed +ss (single-stranded) RNA and ds (double-stranded) DNA virus-like genes in complementary DNA viromes of the coral Montastraea cavernosa and expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries generated from Symbiodinium cultures. The M. cavernosa viromes contained divergent viral sequences similar to the major capsid protein of the dinoflagellate-infecting +ssRNA Heterocapsa circularisquama virus, suggesting a highly novel dinornavirus could infect Symbiodinium.
Further, similarities to dsDNA viruses dominated (~69%) eukaryotic viral similarities in the M. cavernosa viromes. Transcripts highly similar to eukaryotic algae-infecting phycodnaviruses were identified in the viromes, and homologs to these sequences were found in two independently generated Symbiodinium EST libraries. Phylogenetic reconstructions substantiate that these transcripts are undescribed and distinct members of the nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (NCLDVs) group.
Based on a preponderance of evidence, we infer that the novel NCLDVs and RNA virus described here are associated with the algal endosymbionts of corals. If such viruses disrupt Symbiodinium, they are likely to impact the flexibility and/or stability of coral–algal symbioses, and thus long-term reef health and resilience.
http://www.nature.com/ismej/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ismej201275a.html
Sir Karl Popper formulated the modern Scientific Method. He noted that confirmation bias is an ever present danger:
Based on Popper’s requirements, human-emitted CO2 as the cause of coral bleaching is not even science. It is rank speculation that inevitably blames CO2, because that is always the narrative that supports the CAGW agenda.
AGW=coral bleaching is an untestable conjecture. It is an opinion that lacks evidence; climate alarmism by media headline. Honest scientists should demand evidence, and claims like this should require complete transparency of all data and methods. If that happened, the coral bleaching scare would disappear overnight.
Yeah, but the parasites, fungi, and virus are caused by global warming don’t ya know! sarc/ Seriously, thats what the warmists are now saying.
Virus ‘science’ is in an even worse state than climate ‘science’.
http://www.fearoftheinvisible.com/
There is a common theme in all these big-money low rigour disciplines in which ‘proving’ a point becomes more important than understanding what is going on.
http://henryhbauer.homestead.com/KnowledgeMonopolies.html
Viruses that kill the hosts are themselves doomed. We have a fox and rabbit game here and my bet is we don’t recognize what the balance point of this one looks like. Bark beetles and conifer forests are another. Both have been around forever.
Anthony: could you please add to Climate Weenie’s list
“Climate Change is Killing the Penguins” – flipper bands; attached by biologists
REPLY: It’s his list, he’ll have to say OK – Anthony
Parasites, fungus now virus. GCMs still failing on smaller scale.
”Andrew30 says:
July 12, 2012 at 9:45 am
“multiple threats that coral reefs are facing”
There are no ‘threats’ there are only other parts of nature that alter the requirements for survival on an ongoing basis. Adapt or die out.
The personification of nature is an intellectual defect.
In this case it is being said that these very, very, very small creatures (the viruses) are ‘threatening’ the other very, very small creatures (the coral). I am sure that any harm done by one to the other involves no malice and is not intended to scare the other in to doing something that it would otherwise not do (a threat).
In science, in school, children are taught that science asks the question ‘Why?’, ‘why’ or course implies conscious intent or design. I feel that we would all be better off if the children were told science asks the question ‘How?’, it would make the children better scientists.
In nature there is no why, there is only is, and how is is, is the question.”
Andrew30 … that is a direct hit. Well done.
Thank you
Louis, I agree based on additional observations. Further, my observations show that this group is least likely to be inclined toward details of any kind and are more likely to cite group think or outliers if they get past the threats and demonizing tactics. We need some new fangled psych tests. They would be fascinating to see. Oh that involves data and details again. My bad
This comment in the press release caught my attention:
Well, from this study:
http://noc.ac.uk/news/global-sea-level-rise-end-last-ice-age
sea level rose at 2.5 metres per century – i.e. 2.5 cm per year – during some phases at the end of the last ice age, which sounds like a pretty rapid change for corals to deal with – and yet they are all here today…
Coral colours are not due to the coral, because that is made of calcium carbonate which is white, but by the algal growths use by the coral polyps in symbiotic relationship to feed. Sometimes these algal growths need changing and it is then that the whitening occurs. After the algal regrowth the corals get their colour back. Why this happens is open to debate but my guess is that the symbiotic algae have a short life compared to that of the polyps. I do not think that water temperature has anything to do with it because the same species of coral live on the GBR as on reefs round Borneo and there is a large temperature difference between the two areas.
Whitening has been reported in areas of the GBR but a return has shown total recolouring and a thriving reef. The only natural event to kill a reef would be a sea level lowering. Sea level rise just gives the reef corals more volume to expand into.