Table of Contents

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

Belongs to set of datasets that evaluate how vermetid (Ceraesignum maximum) modify physical and chemical conditions above coral-algal interactions (i.e., light, flow and oxygen).

Oxygen concentrations measured at increasing distances over coral-algal interactions in the presence and absence of vermetid mucus nets in the light, in low and high flow.

Related Datasets:

• BrownOsenberg_2018- Fluorescein dye: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/717831
• BrownOsenberg_2018- FlDyeSurvey: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/720777
• BrownOsenberg_2018- InitO2_DBLthick: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/720822
• BrownOsenberg_2018- LightSensor: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/720874
• BrownOsenberg_2018- OxygenConcentrations: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/720960 (The current page.)

Experiments and surveys were conducted in the field to determine how vermtetids affect light, flow and oxygen concentrations. Below are the methods for the experiment:

Samples are cores removed from the field with intact interactions (half massive Porites corals and half algal turf). Samples were removed with pneumatic drill with a hole saw attachment.

Oxygen concentration profiles were measured using a PreSens needle microsensor oxygen probe (diameter: <50 μm) attached to a PreSens Microx TX3 system (PreSens Precision Sensing GmbH). The probe was attached to a micromanipulator, which allowed fine-scale, precise motion to measure oxygen concentration profiles. The probe was lowered through the net to the coral surface.

BCO-DMO Processing:

• added conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date
• modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions
• added ISO Date format generated from date and time values

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).