Can synergistic effects of marine heatwaves and Vibrio proliferation act as potential triggers of widespread demosponge disease? A case study in the Mediterranean Sea

Can synergistic effects of marine heatwaves and Vibrio proliferation act as potential triggers of widespread demosponge disease? A case study in the Mediterranean Sea

Marine heatwaves associated with climate change are increasingly creating favourable conditions for the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria, leading to disease outbreaks and mass mortality events particularly in sessile suspension-feeding invertebrates, such as sponges. In summer 2024, a dise...