Abstract

With most of the planet covered in water, the diversity of aquatic organisms is greater than on land. Humans use the aquatic environment for a range of activities such as recreation, fishing, and irrigation. Emerging diseases within the aquatic environment have spurred interest in the application of epidemiology to their study in corals and their reef systems, and human influences. However, the diversity and interactions of aquatic systems presents a series of unique challenges and complexities that requires a holistic approach which is fundamental to epidemiology. Examples of applicable descriptive and analytical epidemiological approaches, incorporating environmental, anthropogenic, and coral factors, are presented, along with their advantages and limitations. These include retrospective studies that look back in time, may be cohort or case-control in nature, and can be used to examine the route of pathogen or parasite transmission. Prospective studies follow groups of subjects forward in time. These studies, difficult to conduct in mobile aquatic species, can lend themselves to the sessile nature of corals. Outbreak investigations with the application of molecular epidemiology have been applied to other aquatic animal diseases. Molecular epidemiology can assess genetic and environmental contributors to disease occurrence in reefs. Geographic information systems may be used to detect disease clusters and describe spatiotemporal patterns. Epidemiology has been applied to studying diseases in various marine species and will be valuable for studying patterns of coral diseases.

* Presenting author

Literature cited

1.  Raymundo LJ, Couch CS, Harvell CD, editors. 2008. Coral Disease Handbook - Guidelines for Assessment, Monitoring & Management. Melbourne, Australia: Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for Management Program, The University of Queensland. 124 p.