Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Related Publications
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Project Information
• Funding

A pilot study was completed to determine the survival probability of 3 unique genotypes of Acropora cervicornis at three different temperature profiles (29, 32, or 33 degrees Celsius). Corals (n=72) were held at their respective temperature treatments until the corals experienced signs of bleaching activity or mortality.

After >2 weeks (on Day 16 or Day 22), half of the corals were transferred to new tanks with different treatment conditions while the others remained in the original tanks and maintained their initial conditions. 

Data was collected pertaining to the time (days) till mortality which would later be incorporated into a survival analysis (see dataset XXXXXX). Each fragment was assessed for its relative color index (ranging from D1 as pale color to D5 as full color)  at 0900 daily to document the rate of observable change in health.  The coral health chart/ color index card was provided by CoralWatch.

A full factorial experiment was completed subsequently--see Related Datasets section below for details.

(??? Much processing was done for the full factorial study, but what was done for this study ???)

NSF Award Abstract:
Caribbean staghorn coral was one of the most common corals within reefs of the Florida Keys several decades ago. Over the last 40 years disease, bleaching, overfishing and habitat degradation caused a 95% reduction of the population. Staghorn coral is now listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973. Within the past few years, millions of dollars have been invested for the purpose of restoring the population of staghorn coral within Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Significant effort has been placed on maintaining and propagating corals of known genotypes within coral nurseries for the purpose of outplanting. However, little is known about the individual genotypes that are currently being outplanted from nurseries onto coral reefs. Are the genotypes being used for outplanting resilient enough to survive the three major stressors affecting the population in the Florida Keys: disease, high water temperatures, and ocean acidification? The research within the present study will be the first step in answering this critically important question. The funded project will additionally develop a research-based afterschool program with K-12 students in the Florida Keys and U.S. Virgin Islands that emphasizes an inquiry-based curriculum, STEM research activities, and peer-to-peer mentoring. The information from the present study will help scientists predict the likelihood of species persistence within the lower Florida Keys under future climate-change and ocean-acidification scenarios. Results of this research will also help guide restoration efforts throughout Florida and the Caribbean, and lead to more informative, science-based restoration activities.

Acropora cervicornis dominated shallow-water reefs within the Florida Keys for at least the last half a million years, but the population has recently declined due to multiple stressors. Understanding the current population level of resilience to three major threats - disease outbreaks, high water temperatures, and ocean acidification conditions - is critical for the preservation of this threatened species. Results from the present study will answer the primary research question: will representative genotypes from the lower Florida Keys provide enough phenotypic variation for this threatened species to survive in the future? The present proposal will couple controlled laboratory challenge experiments with field data and modeling applications, and collaborate with local educators to fulfill five objectives: 1) identify A. cervicornis genotypes resistant to disease, 2) identify A. cervicornis genotypes resilient to high water temperature and ocean acidification conditions, 3) quantify how high water temperature and ocean acidification conditions impact disease dynamics on A. cervicornis; 4) determine tradeoffs in life-history traits because of resilience factors; and 5) apply a trait-based model, which will predict genotypic structure of a population under different environmental scenarios.