Dataset: Identity and Heights of Octocoral Species

Name: Identity and heights of Octocoral species found on transects at 6 sites on the south shore of St John, U.S. Virgin Islands in 2021 and 2022
Published: 2023-04-18
Keywords: Gorgonian, coral reef, community ecology, biota, oceans

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Spatial Extent: N:18.73 E:-64.71 S:18.303 W:-64.73

Temporal Extent: 2021-06-25 - 2022-08-20

Project:

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)

Co-Principal Investigator:

Peter J. Edmunds (California State University Northridge, CSUN)

Scientist:

Christopher Wells (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)

Version:

Version Date:

2023-04-18

Restricted:

Validated:

Current State:

Data not available

Identity and heights of Octocoral species found on transects at 6 sites on the south shore of St John, U.S. Virgin Islands in 2021 and 2022

Abstract:

Transect surveys were conducted at 6 sites on the south shore of St John, within the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park during the summers of 2021 and 2022. Depending on the site, 3 to 6 transects were established. Identity and heights of all arborescent octocorals greater than or equal to 5 centimeters were recorded from 1 square meter quadrats on the transects. The position of colonies relative to the site, meter on the transect, and side of the quadrat are included. Surveys were conducted by Drs. Howard Lasker and Christopher Wells of the University at Buffalo.

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Methods & Sampling

To investigate community dynamics of octocorals on Caribbean coral reefs, transect surveys were conducted at 6 sites on the south shore of St John, within the Virgin Islands National Park during the summers of 2021 and 2022. Depending on the site, 3 to 6 transects were established. All sites were located at 6 to 9 meters depth and samples were collected by SCUBA from small boats. The identity and heights of all arborescent octocorals greater than or equal to 5 centimeters were recorded from 1 square meter quadrats on the transects. The position of colonies relative to the site, meter on the transect, and side of the quadrat are included.

Censuses at sites Grootpan, Europa, and Tektite were based on 50-meter x 10-meter areas that were arbitrarily selected and permanently marked with stainless steel eyebolts at the corners of the sites. A total of six transect lines, also marked with eyebolts, were laid out at 10 m intervals. At Booby Rock, a 50-meter line running parallel to the approximately 7-meter depth contour was established, and survey transects (3 in 2021 and 6 in 2022) were positioned at random points along the line. All octocorals present in 1 x 1-meter quadrats along the 10-meter long transects were identified and their heights were measured. Small branch tip samples were collected from colonies that could not be identified in the field. Sclerites were digested from those colonies with a commercial bleach solution and sclerites were observed with a compound scope for identification. Octocoral adults were defined as individuals greater than or equal to 5 centimeters in height, with height determined to the nearest centimeter.

Known Issues:
Field identifications of Pseudoplexaura flagellosa and P. wagenaari are difficult among small colonies and for analysis purposes, the two species should be lumped as a single group.

Field identifications of Eunicea mammosa, E. laxispica and E. succinea are sometimes difficult, thus, for analysis purposes the three species should be lumped as a single group.

aa2 is an undescribed Antillogorgia sp. that is very similar to A. americana.

Data Processing Description

Data were collected on paper and slates and transcribed to Excel files each day of fieldwork.

BCO-DMO Processing description:
- Adjusted field/parameter names to comply with BCO-DMO naming conventions
- Added columns "Latitude" and "Longitude" based on site
- Rounded columns "Latitude" and "Longitude" to 3 decimal places

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

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

Deployments

None available yet

Instruments

Measuring Tape

Supplied Name:

Supplied Description:

Transect tapes with 1 centimeter resolution for positioning quadrats

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.

Measuring Tape

Supplied Name:

Supplied Description:

I meter tapes with 1 millimeter resolution for measuring colony heights

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Measuring Tape

Generic Description:

Microscope - Optical

Supplied Name:

Supplied Description:

Compound microscope at 100 and 200x for identifications of colonies from which sclerite samples were obtained

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Microscope - Optical

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/LAB05/

Generic Description:

Instruments that generate enlarged images of samples using the phenomena of reflection and absorption of visible light. Includes conventional and inverted instruments. Also called a "light microscope".

Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

Supplied Name:

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

Acronym: SCUBA

Generic Description:

The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus or scuba diving system is the result of technological developments and innovations that began almost 300 years ago. Scuba diving is the most extensively used system for breathing underwater by recreational divers throughout the world and in various forms is also widely used to perform underwater work for military, scientific, and commercial purposes.

Reference: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/technical/technical.html

Parameters

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

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
Census_Year	Year in which the data were collected	unitless	year
Date	Date the data were collected Format: %Y-%m-%d	unitless	date
Latitude	Latitude of sampling site	decimal degrees	lat
Longitude	Longitude of sampling site (West is negative)	decimal degrees	lon
Site	Unique identifier for sampling site	unitless	site
Transect_Position	Position of transects in a marked 50 x 10 meter (m) area (0m; 10m; 20m; 30m; 40m; 50m)	unitless	transect
Meter_on_transect	From 0m to 9m. 1x1m quadrats were positioned randomly along the 10 m transect. The values refer to the position of the "shoreward" corner of the quadrat. Thus "0"refers to the quadrat placed between the 0 and 1 meter marks	meters	len_track
Side_of_transect	Side of the transect tape (Left or Right), orientation looking towards open ocean, with the nearest shore to the back	unitless	transect
Meter_Side	Meter side	unitless	transect
Genus	Genus of Octocoral	unitless	genus
Species	Octocorals species acronyms	unitless	species
Species_code	Unique identifier for coral species	unitless	taxon_code
Total_height	Maximum distance from the base of the octocoral colony until the farthest tips of the longest branch regardless of whether there was living tissue on the branch. The measurement was not necessarily perpendicular to the substrate.	centimeters (cm)	height
Height_of_living_tissue	Maximum distance from the base of the octocoral colony to the farthest tips of the longest branch with living tissue (i.e. not necessarily perpendicular to the substrate). All measures rounded to the nearest cm with the exception of 5 cm which only includes colonies greater than or equal to 5 cm. Measures less than 5 cm reflect colonies with thick branches which could only have greater than 5 cm heights due to partial mortality.	centimeters (cm)	height
Basal_damage	height from the base of the colony to living tissue. This value is 0.0 for colonies that have no damage to their base.	centimeters (cm)	height
Damage	Damage (1 when < 25% of the colony have injuries, 2 when injuries are in > 25% but < 50% of the colony, 3 when in juries are > 50% of the colony but < 75%, 4 when a colony has injuries in > 75% of the colony)	unitless	percent_cover
Cyphoma_present	Number of Cyphoma spp. present on the colony. Unless noted in Comments individuals individuals are C. gibbosum per colony	unitless	count
Comments	Millepora inicates Millepora overgrowing naked axis, Cyanobacteria indicates Cyanobacteria growing on the colony	unitless	dominant_species

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Dataset: Identity and Heights of Octocoral Species