Infectious diseases are prevalent in terrestrial and marine systems (reviewed in [1–3]), and can result in mass mortality of a species or suite of species. Sea star wasting disease devastated intertidal sea star populations from Mexico to Alaska between 2013–15, but little detail is known about its impacts to subtidal species. Furthermore, even relatively well-supported LTEES such as MARINe do not have access to emergency funding to rapidly respond to ecological disasters. All work described here complies with current laws of the United States of America and Canada. By contrast, seawater temperature is a relatively easy metric to measure with existing temperature logger technology, and provides an accurate proxy of P. ochraceus body temperature while submerged (at high tide). ... At a time when marine diseases and mass mortalities are on the rise, this study documents the impact of little-known wildlife diseases and potential trajectory of recovery in a keystone marine species. Yet despite the documented value of LTEES both for the field of ecology [44] and as the first critical step in responding to disease emergencies [8], funding to maintain existing LTEES is dwindling, and few new LTEES are being established [44]. Sea star wasting disease demography and etiology in the brooding sea star Leptasterias spp. Sea Stars and Biodiversity. Sunflower sea stars (commonly called starfish) are dying off by the millions on the Pacific Coast from Sea Star Wasting Disease. However, temperatures in Oregon were not consistently elevated (relative to long-term means) until late 2014 / early 2015 (Fig 3). Project administration, Because we defined recruits as P. ochraceus ≤ 30 mm in radius, stars in even our smallest size classes are likely several months old. By combining data from MARINe groups with data from the University of British Columbia, we present data on populations of P. ochraceus at 90 rocky intertidal sites spanning the North American Pacific coast, from southeast Alaska to San Diego County, California (Fig 1, S1A–S1H Fig, S1 Table). Yes However, our data do show that the intensity of the outbreak was elevated in warmer-water southern regions relative to cooler northern areas. (#33101) No, Is the Subject Area "Islands" applicable to this article? The wasting disease was first seen on ochre stars in June of 2013 off the coast of The latest confirmed victim of rising temperature is starfish. Regardless of the mechanism (differential settlement, differential mortality, or both), our data show a clear difference in recruitment between ‘north’ and ‘south’ on this larger geographic scale, yet even within the ‘high recruitment’ northern regions, patterns of recruitment were extremely variable among sites, with no distinct latitudinal pattern. Within the northern California region, for example, Damnation Creek, False Klamath Cove, and Bodega were among the most densely populated sites, but P. ochraceus decline at the less densely populated Alcatraz site was much more severe (Fig 2). The current epidemic is strikingly different from previous events in both geographic extent and persistence, and has contributed to the growing push for the development of coordinated responses to marine diseases (e.g., [8,25–27]). Because of changes in temperature logger technology, three different data loggers (all from Onset Computer Corporation) have been used over time: HOBO pendant UA-002-64, HOBO UTBI-001 TidbiT, and HOBO UTBI-001 TidbiT v2. Support was provided to CDGH by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2016-05441). For example, one might predict that pattern of decline could be explained by density-dependent disease dynamics. 2019 Nov 21;14(11):e0225248. The median estimated juvenile mortality rate due to SSWD (on top of the ordinary, pre-SSWD mortality rate) across all informative sites was 88.5% (2-tailed 95% CI = 65.4%-93.5%). Aug 13, 2018. After the sea star wasting disease ravaged the sunflower sea star's populations along the Pacific west coast, the species has now been listed as "Critically Endangered". We have clues from small-scale studies [7,50], but the vast amount of coastline impacted by the current wasting event encompasses much more variation in the factors contributing to community structure than could ever be tested experimentally, and it is likely that our understanding of the role this keystone predator plays in shaping community structure will be revised and improved in the coming years. The relationship between temperature and sea star decline was not formally tested because the temporal scale of our population surveys was too coarse to capture the temporal scale at which P. ochraceus responds to its environment (e.g., [33]). Typically, lesions appear in the ectoderm followed by decay of tissue surrounding the lesions, which can lead to eventual fragmentation of the body and death. Validation, We used this published estimate of growth rate in our calculations, but among-site differences in rate of growth are certainly possible due to variation in factors such as prey availability and seawater temperature. Along the Oregon coast, Menge at al. Raimondi, M.H. Although “wasting disease” had been documented in P. ochraceus before 2013, the etiology of those outbreaks is not known [23,24,36] and may well have varied among locations and outbreak events [23]. Regional maps of study sites: Panel A in S1 Fig) Alaska sites, Panel B in S1 Fig) British Columbia sites, Panel C in S1 Fig) Washington sites, Panel D in S1 Fig) Oregon sites, Panel E in S1 Fig) Northern California sites, Panel F in S1 Fig) Central California sites, Panel G in S1 Fig) Southern California mainland sites, Panel H in S1 Fig) Southern California Channel Island Sites. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey. While our data add to the body of literature which indicates that SSWD intensity might be affected by water temperature, they reinforce the conclusion by Maynard et al. In these circumstances, data from ongoing monitoring programs provide the best means of assessing the impact of this disease. Infected animals develop lesions that eat away tissue, with limbs dropping off as the animals die. We also thank Karah Ammann, David Anderson, Laura Anderson, Benjamin Becker, Christy Bell, Melissa Douglas, Nate Fletcher, Darren Fong, Mike Frenock, Maya George, Jonathan Jones, Steve Lee, Dave Lohse, Avrey Parsons-Field, Dan Richards, and the many other non-author researchers, technicians, students, and volunteers who helped collect and manage data. Individuals with a radius between 3 and 7 mm were recorded in the ‘5 mm’ radius bin. No, Is the Subject Area "Epidemiology" applicable to this article? Prior to 2013, regional disease outbreaks had been implicated in punctuated and spatially isolated declines in P. ochraceus abundance along the North American Pacific coast from Baja California, Mexico [24] to British Columbia, Canada [23]. Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America, Roles Yes We are grateful to the Makah Tribe and Quinault Nation, the Sea Ranch Association, Hopkins Marine Reserve, the Pebble Beach Company, El Sur Ranch, Bixby Management Inc., Hollister Ranch, and Vandenberg Air Force Base for access to sites, and to the Sitka Sound Science Center for field support in Alaska. In response to the recent sea star wasting disease event and the growing concern over the negative consequences of eco-depression regarding environmental crises, this study investigated the effects of two emotional appeals (sadness and hope) and their interaction with gain versus loss framing on information seeking, policy support, and pro-environmental behavioral intentions. Although sea stars have been making a comeback since then, scientists are still working to find out exactly what caused the sea star wasting disease (SSWD), with some suggesting that … P. ochraceus individuals do move between the intertidal and subtidal zones, and our surveys did not extend into the subtidal zone; thus it is possible that our data overestimated population declines at our sites if P. ochraceus individuals persisted in large numbers in subtidal refugia. 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