Protected Areas Moderate Diseases of Reef‐Building Corals

Abstract

Marine managers often have few options for controlling disease outbreaks compared to their terrestrial counterparts. Both terrestrial and aquatic protected areas have been critical for providing protection from anthropocentric forms of physical damage to flora and fauna, and it is well known that pathogen invasion often succeeds physical wounding and injury across taxa. Despite these connections, there have been no studies attempting to link reductions in ecosystem damage with disease moderation as a result of protection. Here, we report a fourfold decrease in diseases that affect numerous reef-building species located within no-take marine reserves compared to nearby non-reserves. Coral damage and the abundance of derelict fishing line best explained these results and suggest that protected areas benefit corals by reducing direct impacts associated with fishing activities.