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Description:
Project Manager:
Leslie Henderson
Project Years:
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Project Summary:
This project will provide support to the US Caribbean to respond to the damaging impacts of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). SCTLD, detected in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in 2019, has continued to cause significant damages throughout coral reef ecosystems in both jurisdictions, affecting at least one third of Caribbean stony coral species and causing devastating impacts wherever it goes. In the USVI and PR, disease response teams have been formed and have been implementing underwater coral treatments to combat disease spread and impacts. This project will continue to help fund the operations of these teams. This project will also continue to fund an annual technical workshop in the US Caribbean to allow resource managers, scientists and coral disease responders to exchange information and foster regional collaboration.
Expected Outcome:
This project will strengthen efforts to combat SCTLD impacts in the U.S. Caribbean. It will support in situ response and intervention efforts in the USVI and Puerto Rico that will result in the preservation of coral tissue that will otherwise be lost forever because of this coral disease outbreak. The corals that are treated will then have the opportunity to survive, regrow, adapt, recover and even contribute to ongoing restoration efforts. It will result in improved coordination between island based strike teams in the USVI and Puerto Rico who are working to both track the spread of the disease and apply interventions. This project will also have regional level impacts in that it will result in increased communication, coordination and information sharing between the USVI and Puerto Rico which will, in turn, lead to more coordinated and effective disease response efforts in the U.S. Caribbean.
Project Locations:
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Puerto Rico
Jursdiction Priority Sites:
- Guanica and Marine Extension
- St. Croix East End Marine Park
- St. Thomas East End Reserve
- North East Reserves
Project Category:
Restoration
Project Status:
Ongoing
Associated Products:
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