Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38701216›Full record

ArticleScience advances2024

Stony coral tissue loss disease indirectly alters reef communities.

Sara D Swaminathan, Kevin D Lafferty, Nicole S Knight, Andrew H Altieri

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Success of restoration strategies in preventing extirpation of 2 critically endangered coral species.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Sea star wasting disease mystery finally solved.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Sara D SwaminathanDepartment of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8631-3582
Kevin D LaffertyWestern Ecological Research Center, US Geological Survey, Santa Barbara, CA 93455, USA.
Nicole S KnightDepartment of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-9256-242X
Andrew H AltieriDepartment of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7439-8742

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many Caribbean coral reefs are near collapse due to various threats. An emerging threat, stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), is spreading across the Western Atlantic and Caribbean. Data from the U.S. Virgin Islands reveal how SCTLD spread has reduced the abundance of susceptible coral and crustose coralline algae and increased cyanobacteria, fire coral, and macroalgae. A Caribbean-wide structural equation model demonstrates versatility in reef fish and associations with rugosity independent of live coral. Model projections suggest that some reef fishes will decline due to SCTLD, with the largest changes on reefs that lose the most susceptible corals and rugosity. Mapping these projected declines in space indicates how the indirect effects of SCTLD range from undetectable to devastating.

Indexed as

AnthozoaCoral ReefsAnimalsCaribbean RegionEcosystemFishes

Identifiers

PMID38701216
PMCPMC11068009

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.