Dataset: Octocoral Recruitment

Name: Octocoral recruitment surveys on transects at 5 sites on the south shore of St. John, US Virgin Islands, 2014-2019.
Published: 2021-08-31
Keywords: Recruitment, settlement, coral reef, Gorgonian, Alcyonaria, benthic ecology, life history traits, oceans

Cite This Dataset

DOI:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.851382.1

Spatial Extent: N:18.31672 E:-64.71882 S:18.30293 W:-64.72993

Temporal Extent: 2014-08-06 - 2019-10-03

Project:

Collaborative research: Ecology and functional biology of octocoral communities (VI Octocorals)

Collaborative Research: Pattern and process in the abundance and recruitment of Caribbean octocorals (Octocoral Community Dynamics)

Principal Investigator:

Howard Lasker (State University of New York at Buffalo, SUNY Buffalo)

Contact:

Howard Lasker (State University of New York at Buffalo, SUNY Buffalo)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Taylor Heyl (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Shannon Rauch (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Version:

Version Date:

2021-08-31

Restricted:

Validated:

Yes

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Octocoral recruitment surveys on transects at 5 sites on the south shore of St. John, US Virgin Islands, 2014-2019.

Abstract:

This dataset includes species identifications and sizes from octocoral recruitment surveys conducted on transects at five sites on the south shore of St. John, US Virgin Islands from 2014-2019.

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Archival Copy

Version Date	Archive	Persistent Identifier	Date Assigned
2021-08-31	Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Library (MBLWHOI DLA)	10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.851382.1	2021-10-22

Methods & Sampling

Censuses of octocoral recruits were conducted at 5 sites on the south shore of St. John, US Virgin Islands from 2014-2019. Recruits (1 polyp – 5 centimeter tall colonies) were enumerated, and when possible were identified to genus in separate 0.25 square meter quadrats (n = 8) randomly placed along 6 transects at each of 3 sites (48 quadrats per site). Transects were positioned in a marked 50 meter x 10 meter area, with stainless steel eye bolts marking each of the 6 transects. Transects were 10m long.

Two sites were added in November 2017. At these sites 0.25 square meter quadrats (n = 16) were randomly placed along 3 fixed transects at each site (48 quadrats per site).

NOTES:
- 8 quadrats were surveyed by transect but be aware that a few transects present differences in the number of quadrats surveyed. That cases were noted below.
- 0.1 cm recruits are those with 1, 2 or 3 polyps, therefore, not measurables

2014 - Four transects surveyed at E Cabritte.
2014 - 7 quadrats surveyed at Europa on transect 10.
2014 - All quadrats at E Cabritte positioned on the left (L) side of line.
2014 - All quadrats at Europa were positioned alternating left (L) or right (R) side of the transect line but on the quadrats L8 and L6 on transect 10.

2015 - Quadrats surveyed from Feb -15 to Mar-15 were positioned alternating left (L) or right (R) side of the transect line.
2015 - March at Europa -7 quadrats were surveyed (instead of 8) on transect 40.
2015 - August at E Cabritte - 10 quadrats (instead of 8) were surveyed on transect 10.
2015 - August at Europa - 6 quadrats (instead of 8) were surveyed on transect 40.
2015 - August at Tektite - 7 quadrats (instead of 8) were surveyed on transect 10.

2016 - Quadrats surveyed were randomly positioned on the right or left side of the transect line.
2016 - March at Tektite - 7 quadrats (instead of 8) were surveyed on transect 30.
2016 - 29th July at Europa - 2 quadrats (instead of 8) were surveyed on transect 10.
2016 - August at E Cabritte - The quadrat 6R on the transect 40 was surveyed twice (indicated in the Comments column as "Repeated Quadrat")
2016 - August at E Cabritte - 7 quadrats (instead of 8) were surveyed on transect 40.

2017 - March at Tektite - The transect 40 was not surveyed.
2017- July at E Cabritte- 9 quadrats were surveyed on transect 50.
2017 - July at E Cabritte- 9 quadrats were surveyed on transect 20.
2017 - November at E Cabritte - Seven quadrats (instead of 8) surveyed on transect 0.
2017 - November at E Cabritte - Transect 10 was not surveyed.
2017 - November at Europa - Nine quadrats (instead of 8) surveyed at transect 10.
2017 - November Deep Tektite was included in the study but just 8 quadrats (instead of 16) on transect 1 were surveyed. Surveys are performed on the left side of the transect line.
2017 - November Yawzi was included in the study, but just 8 quadrats on transect 1, and 3 quadrats (instead of 16) were surveyed. Surveys are performed on the left side of the transect line.

2018 - July and August we included scleractinian recruits surveys (genus level) at E Cabritte, Europa and Tektite (But NOT on Deep Tektite and Yawzi)
2018 - July and August at Deep Tektite we surveyed 16 quadrats at each of the 3 transects.
2018 - July and August at Yawzi we surveyed 17 quadrats on transect 2 (instead of 16).

Data Processing Description

BCO-DMO processing description:
- Converted dates to ISO8601 format (yyyy-mm-dd)
- Adjusted field/parameter names to comply with BCO-DMO naming conventions
- Added a conventional header with dataset name, PI name, and version date
- Added the Species_name column from the "Species Code" sheet of the original Excel data file
- Added columns containing latitude and longitude

Data Files

File
octocoral_recruitment.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 637.53 KB) MD5:9ee43190a362435194be428441649431 Primary data file for dataset ID 851382

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

Funding Source	Award Number
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1756381
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1334052

Deployments

None available yet

Instruments

Measuring Tape

Supplied Name: Transect tape

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Measuring Tape

Generic Description:

A tape measure or measuring tape is a flexible ruler. It consists of a ribbon of cloth, plastic, fibre glass, or metal strip with linear-measurement markings. It is a common tool for measuring distance or length.

Parameters

Date and time formats are described in python strftime() syntax.

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
Census	Census year and month that a majority of data were collected in: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 have multiple censuses in one year	year and month	date
Census_Year	Year census was taken, from 2014 to 2019	year	year
Date	Date on which data were collected; format: YYYY-MM-DD Format: %Y-%m-%d	date	date
Latitude	latitude of sample site	decimal degrees North	lat
Longitude	longitude of sample site	decimal degrees East	lon
Site	Census locations	unitless	site
Transect_Position	Transects positioned in a marked 50 m x 10 meter area, with stainless steel eye bolts marking each corner, and each of the 6 transects. Transects were 10m long across the area. So positions are 0m; 10m; 20m; 30m; 40m; 50m. Transects at Deep Tektite and Yawzi, established by Pete Edmunds, are approximately 10m from each other. Positions are 1, 2, 3	unitless	transect
Side_transect	Side of the transect tape (Left or Right), orientation looking towards open ocean, with the shore in the back.	unitless	transect
Meter_transect	From 0 m to 9.5 meters. Quadrat of 50 x 50 centimeters positioned randomly along a 10 meter transect. Each number indicates the meter at which the inferior side of the quadrat was positioned.	meters	transect
Taxon	Octocoral or Scleractinian coral	unitless	taxon
Genus	Genus of each individual colony	unitless	genus
Species_code	Octocorals or scleractininan species acronym	unitless	species
Species_name	Octocorals or scleractininan species names	unitless	species
Height	Maximum distance from the base of the octocoral recruit until the farthest tips of the branches (i.e. not necessarily perpendicular to the substrate)	centimeters	length_max
Minor_axis	Applies to scleractinian corals. Minor diameter of colony	centimeters	diameter
Major_axis	Applies to scleractinian corals. Major diameter of colony	centimeters	diameter
Area	Applies to scleractinian corals. Elipsoid area calculated from the major and minor axes	centimeters squared	surface_area
Comments	"No recruits present" indicates quadrats surveyed that contained no recruits;"aa2" refers to individuals that appeared to be A. americana but had somewhat broader branchlets and were not as slimy as classic A. americana. All aa2 colonies that were examined under stereoscope had A. americana;"No measurement" indicates that recruits' heights were not recorded; "X polyps" refers to the number of polyps of the recruit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 polyps	unitless	comment

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Dataset: Octocoral Recruitment