outbreaks may be increasing in marine systems. Thus, understanding spatial patterns of infection and associated factors that may promote outbreaks is increasingly important in the Anthropocene. Coral in the genus Porites respond to infection by forming raised pink polyps. In July of 2016 and 2021, we observed an outbreak of pink lesions (PL) on coral in the north shore of Moorea, French Polynesia. We quantified spatial patterns in prevalence and dispersion within two bays with developed watersheds, hypothesizing prevalence (% infected per site) and dispersion (pattern on individual colonies) would be highest within the impacted bays. Also quantified dispersion at a high prevalence site using Mean to Variance Ratio. Found prevalence was highest in the bays. At low and medium prevalence sites in 2016, 15-20% of colonies had PL compared to 11% in 2021, while high prevalence sites exceeded 90% infected in both years. Overall, aggregation decreased with prevalence, with the low prevalence site highly clustered and the high prevalence site randomly dispersed. Thus, it is unlikely for a colony to be heavily infected unless surrounded by infected colonies. At one impacted site, prevalence was higher in 2021 than in 2016, which could infer that human development has worsened conditions in that area or outbreak cycles can be site dependent. Overall, our results imply PLs on Porites of Moorea are associated with anthropogenic stressors, which contrasts patterns found in other reef systems.

Primary Presenter: Ashlyn Ford, University of California - Los Angeles (ashlynford@g.ucla.edu)

Authors:

Richard Laplace, University of Virgin Islands  (rjlaplace@gmail.com)

J. David Monez, California State - Northridge  (jmunoz47@calstatela.edu)

Caitlin Fong, California State - Northridge  (catrfong@gmail.com)

Peggy Fong, University of California - Los Angeles   (pfong@biology.ucla.edu)

Paul Barber, University of California - Los Angeles   (paulbarber@ucla.edu)