Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

This dataset contains vermetid sizes and species identifications from quadrats on experimental reefs. These data were collected to examine spatial and temporal variation in vermetid abundances Moorea, French Polynesia. 

Long Term Vermetid Removal (LTVR) Reef sites in this project are manipulated reefs characterized in the Long Term Reef Physical Characteristics dataset.

Reefs labeled "TOW" in this dataset, numbered 129-144, are a subset of a larger number of Long Term Reefs (LTR) that were monitored as part of the project "Cryptic density dependence: the effects of spatial, ontogenetic, and individual variation in reef fish" beginning in 2003. This long term study continues to monitor those reefs in addition to reefs 193-198 starting in 2012. Data for these reefs between the years 2003 and 2009 can be found on the project site http://www.bco-dmo.org/project/540423.

Location: Moorea, French Polynesia (17.48 degrees S, 149.82 degrees W)

Other associated LTVR datasets:
LTVR - Fate of Reefs - Contains latitude and longitude of reefs used in this dataset 
LTVR - Physical Characteristics - Contains characteristics of reefs used in this dataset.
LTVR - Fish Survey
LTVR - Percent Cover Point Contact
LTVR - Percent Visual Cover
LTVR - Pomacentrids
LTVR - Thalasssoma
LTVR - Vermetid Counts
LTVR - Vermetid Removal

Sampling and Analytical Methodology:

At each of the reefs monitored for the vermetid removal study, the aperture diameter of identifiable vermetids were measured in 10 20 x 20cm quadrats using calipers to the nearest 0.1 mm. Quadrats were placed haphazardly on the reef, 2 on the top and 2 on the upcurrent side (the side in the direction of the current), 2 on each of the left and right of the current direction, and 2 quadrats on the downcurrent side.

Materials: snorkel gear, dive slate, 20x20cm quadrat, calipers

Note extracted from a data comment: All Unk vermetids in 2015 were described as dark shelled, often dark body, curled tight.

BCO-DMO Data Manager Processing Notes for version 2016-01-26:
- Generated from original file "LTVR_VermetidSizesInQuadrats.csv" contributed by Rebecca Atkins
- Parameter names edited to conform to BCO-DMO naming convention found at Choosing Parameter Name
- Any blank rows removed

Current data version date 2017-12-20 replaces version 2016-05-23
* This update adds data new data chronologically and also includes a new column "Diam31" to accommodate a quadrat that contained 31 vermatids.

BCO-DMO Data Manager Processing Notes for version 2017-12-20:
* added a conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date
* modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions
* blank values replaced with no data value "nd" for "no data"
* removed three blank and un-named columns between "Diam31" and "Notes"
* replaced "." values with "nd" for no data after communication with data submitter.
* replaced commas with ; to support csv export
* date formats had problems. Changed dates in format "dd-mmm_yyyy" to match the rest of the dataset "dd-mmm-yy"
* blank rows removed
* double quotes in a comment removed

Description from NSF abstract:
Ecological surprises are most likely to be manifest in diverse communities where many interactions remain uninvestigated. Coral reefs harbor much of the world's biodiversity, and recent studies by the investigators suggest that one overlooked, but potentially important, biological interaction involves vermetid gastropods. Vermetid gastropods are nonmobile, tube-building snails that feed via an extensive mucus net. Vermetids reduce coral growth by up to 80%, and coral survival by as much as 60%. Because effects vary among coral taxa, vermetids may substantially alter the structure of coral communities as well as the community of fishes and invertebrates that inhabit the coral reef.

The investigators will conduct a suite of experimental and observational studies that: 1) quantify the effects of four species of vermetids across coral species to assess if species effects and responses are concordant or idiosyncratic; 2) use meta-analysis to compare effects of vermetids relative to other coral stressors and determine the factors that influence variation in coral responses; 3) determine the role of coral commensals that inhabit the branching coral, Pocillopora, and evaluate how the development of the commensal assemblage modifies the deleterious effects of vermetids; 4) determine how vermetid mucus nets affect the local environment of corals and evaluate several hypotheses about proposed mechanisms; and 5) assess the long-term implications of vermetids on coral communities and the fishes and invertebrates that depend on the coral.

Note: The Principal Investigator, Dr. Craig W. Osenberg, was at the University of Florida at the time the NSF award was granted. Dr. Osenberg moved to the University of Georgia during the summer of 2014 (current contact information).