| Contributors | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Brown, Anya L. | University of Georgia (UGA) | Principal Investigator, Contact |
| Frazer, Thomas | University of Florida (UF) | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Osenberg, Craig | University of Georgia (UGA) | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Zill, Julie | Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Biddle, Mathew | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO) | BCO-DMO Data Manager |
Related Datasets:
Researchers snorkeled to the reef crest at Moorea, Frech Polynesia. When at least one Mancinella armigera was observed, a 1 m^2 quadrat was centered on the snail(s) and all the Ceraesignum maximum were counted. Vermetids were classified as alive, recently killed (white tube with no fouling), or old kill (fouled, empty shell). For each site where a Mancinella was observed, a control quadrat was sampled. The control was chosen to be similar with regard to size and general community characteristics (percent coral cover and type of coral present).
BCO-DMO Processing:
| File |
|---|
Brown_2014_Coral_Reefs.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 462 bytes) MD5:9f09ecdaad4ef7994b846a566f841425 Primary data file for dataset ID 717528 |
| Parameter | Description | Units |
| Observer | Name of person who collected data (CWO = Craig Osenberg; TF = Tom Frazer) | unitless |
| Date | Date of data collection (YYYYMMDD) | unitless |
| Quadrat_Number | Paired quadrat number (1-4) | unitless |
| Control_withSnails | Control (no muricid) or With Snail (muricid present) | unitless |
| V_Alive | number of live veretids | count |
| V_recently_Dead | number of dead vermetids where shell is bright white | count |
| V_Old_Dead | number of dead vermetids with shell encrusted with crustose algae | count |
| Mancinella_number | number of mancinella in quadrat | count |
| Size_1_muricid_in_mm | size of the largest murcid in quadrat | milimeters (mm) |
| Dataset-specific Instrument Name | snorkel |
| Generic Instrument Name | Diving Mask and Snorkel |
| Dataset-specific Description | Researchers snorkeled to the reef crest. |
| Generic Instrument Description | A diving mask (also half mask, dive mask or scuba mask) is an item of diving equipment that allows underwater divers, including, scuba divers, free-divers, and snorkelers to see clearly underwater.
Snorkel: A breathing apparatus for swimmers and surface divers that allows swimming or continuous use of a face mask without lifting the head to breathe, consisting of a tube that curves out of the mouth and extends above the surface of the water. |
| Website | |
| Platform | Osenberg et al Moorea |
| Start Date | 2003-05-19 |
| End Date | 2015-07-12 |
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).
| Funding Source | Award |
|---|---|
| NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) |