Breakdown of microbial networks links nutrient stress and reef coral disease
Raphaela Gracie, Jörg Wiedenmann, Phyllis Lam, Michael Sweet, Cecilia D’Angelo · 2026
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Description
Five researchers show how skewed nutrients in seawater can set off a coral disease, in a study published in 2026. Black band disease creeps across corals worldwide, killing tissue as it spreads. Outbreaks are often blamed on heat, dirt, or poor water, but the trigger path was murky. The team ran lab tests on a reef coral and surveyed outbreak records worldwide.
When the ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus in the water skewed, the coral's microbial partners fell into disorder. Opportunist microbes, including the cyanobacteria that form the black band, gained ground, and they turned up even in tissue that still looked healthy ahead of the lesions. Worldwide, most outbreaks sat in regions with skewed nutrient ratios, far more than were tied to prior heat stress. The authors call nutrient control a prime lever for saving reefs.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Raphaela Gracie, Jörg Wiedenmann, Phyllis Lam, Michael Sweet, Cecilia D’Angelo |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 44 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |