2 B
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2016
CORVALLIS
—
An
unprecedented number of
juvenile sea stars have been
observed off the Oregon coast
over the past several months,
just two years after one of the
most severe marine ecosystem
epidemics in recorded history
nearly wiped the population
out.
The appearance of the juve-
niles does not mean the threat
of “sea star wasting disease” is
over, researchers caution. A
second round of the disease
could be disastrous to the pur-
ple ochre (Pisaster ochraceus)
and other sea stars, some of
which are considered “key-
stone” species in marine habi-
tats because of their influence
on the ecosystem.
A team of Oregon State
University scientists who have
been monitoring the sea stars
for years reported on their sta-
tus this week in the journal
PLOS ONE.
“When we looked at the set-
tlement of the larval sea stars
on rocks in 2014 during the
epidemic, it was the same or
maybe even a bit lower than
previous years,” said Bruce
Menge, the Wayne and Gladys
Valley Professor of Marine
Biology at Oregon State
University and lead author on
the study. “But a few months
later, the number of juveniles
was off the charts — higher
than we’d ever seen — as
much as 300 times normal.
“It wasn’t a case of high set-
tlement, or more sea stars
being born. They just had an
extraordinary survival rate into
the juvenile stage. Whether
they can make it into adult-
hood and replenish the popula-
tion without succumbing to
sea star wasting disease is the
big question.”
Menge and his colleagues
believe the reason for the high
survival rate is the availability
of more food. The young sea
stars feed on larval and juve-
nile mussels and barnacles,
competing with adult sea stars
for the same food source. The
scarcity of adults provided a
temporary smorgasbord for the
juveniles.
Sea star wasting disease
first appeared in Oregon in the
summer of 2014. In rocky
intertidal habitats, disease rap-
idly depleted populations of
the dominant sea star, Pisaster
ochraceus.
The sea stars first developed
twisted arms, then showed
deflation and lesions, and
eventually lost arms and the
ability to grip onto the sub-
strate before finally disinte-
grating completely.
Over a period of about 15
months, the disease reduced
the overall sea star population
by 63 to 84 percent at different
site along the Oregon coast,
and reduced the Pisaster
ochraceus population by 80 to
99 percent.
The epidemic ranged from
Alaska to Baja California.
Scientists from Cornell
University attributed the epi-
demic to a Sea Star-associated
Densovirus and researchers in
Washington say warmer water
may have provided the trigger
for the disease in that state.
But Menge’s research group
found no association between
water temperature and the dis-
ease outbreak in Oregon.
“The longer-term ecological
consequences of this (disease)
event could include wholesale
elimination of many low zone
species and a complete change
in the zonation patterns of
rocky intertidal communities
along the West Coast of North
America,” the authors wrote in
their study.
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Sea star juveniles
still recovering