Abstract

Coral bleaching and disease are recognized as major drivers of coral reef decline globally and are increasing in prevalence, regularity and severity with global climate change. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a leading strategy in the conservation of biodiversity and are increasingly being used with the new aim of enhancing resilience in the face of global climate change. This study compared the prevalence of bleaching, disease and compromised health states in scleractinian (stony) and milleporid (fire) corals at 60 monitoring sites, within and outside of MPAs within the Cayman Islands, to determine if resilience was increased (and therefore prevalence lower) within MPAs. Overall, the study found that the Caymanian MPAs did not enhance the resilience of reef building corals to bleaching and disease, with the prevalence of white plague actually higher within MPA sites overall (MPA: 1.31% ± 0.39 S.E., non-MPA: 0.88% ± 0.22 S.E.). However, the prevalence of compromised health states and growth anomalies were reduced within MPA sites. Disease prevalence was patchy and varied according to island and aspect. Prevalence was highest on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman (combined disease: 13.10% ± 1.19 S.E. and 10.91% ± 1.53 S.E.), on southern coasts. Key diseases and hosts were typical of the wider Caribbean; white plague, yellow band disease, dark spot disease and dark spot syndrome, were recorded at the highest prevalence within important reef building species. Mean bleaching prevalence during the study was low (3.97% ± 0.56 S.E.), with an increase at the deep sites (6.52% ± 0.94 S.E.).

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