Dataset: Palau Coral Reef Experiment 2018: Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) fluorometry

Name: Coral pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry data from a heating experiment using samples collected from Nikko Bay and Rebotel Reef in Palau in the spring of 2018
Published: 2025-01-07
Keywords: coral reefs, coral bleaching, Palau, oceans

Cite This Dataset

DOI:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.855054.1

Spatial Extent: N:7.541333 E:134.8223 S:7.248333 W:134.2538

Palau International Coral Reef Center, Koror, Palau.

Temporal Extent: 2018-05-21 - 2018-06-03

Project:

Collaborative Research: Stability, flexibility, and functionality of thermally tolerant coral symbioses (Thermally tolerant coral)

Principal Investigator:

Mark E. Warner (University of Delaware)

Co-Principal Investigator:

Dustin Kemp (University of Alabama at Birmingham, UA/Birmingham)

Todd Christopher LaJeunesse (Pennsylvania State University, PSU)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

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

Karen Soenen (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Version:

Version Date:

2025-01-07

Restricted:

Validated:

Yes

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Coral pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry data from a heating experiment using samples collected from Nikko Bay and Rebotel Reef in Palau in the spring of 2018

Abstract:

Coral reefs surrounding Palau, Micronesia are living within a broad range of thermal habitats. Specifically, corals living on the offshore barrier reefs surrounding Palau reside in waters with low temperature variability compared to the much warmer and more acidic waters of near shore environments surrounding the Rock Island habitats. This study was designed to test the differences in thermal physiology among two species of reef corals that reside at both of these locations. Specifically, we examined how short-term elevated temperature influences the photochemistry of each coral species from each location before and after heating, as measured by active chlorophyll fluorescence recorded by pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry.

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Archival Copy

Version Date	Archive	Persistent Identifier (PID)	Date PID Issued
2025-01-07	Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Library (MBLWHOI DLA)	10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.855054.1	2025-01-10

Description

This work was conducted in the island nation of Palau. Coral colonies were sampled from an inshore location (Ngermid Bay, also known as Nikko Bay) and an offshore location on the western barrier reef surrounding Palau (Rebotel Reef). Sampled colonies were returned to land and treated in a thermal experiment at the Palau International Coral Reef Center in land-based aquariums.

Methods & Sampling

Eight colonies of the coral Psammocora digitata and Pocillopora verrucosa were sampled from the offshore western barrier reef, Rebotel reef (7.248833° N, 134.235817° E) at 5–10 m depth, and from Nikko Bay (also known by Ngermid Bay, 7.3245° N, 134.4939° E) at 5 m depth. Samples were transported to the Palau International Coral Research Center (PICRC), and each colony sample was cut into nine replicate ramets that were placed in flow-through sea water tables and allowed to heal for 48 hours before mounting on labeled PVC tiles with marine epoxy (Splash zone compound A-788).

Temperature experiments were conducted in indoor aquarium systems. Each system used a semi-enclosed design that consisted of a series of 44 L plastic bins connected to a central 220 L sump that was supplied by a continuous slow-feed supply of fresh seawater. The control system (4 bins) was maintained at an average temperature of 28.27 ± 0.33°C by an in-line chiller and titanium heater. The heated system (6 bins) was ramped from 28°C to 31°C (1°C day-1) and held at 31.86 ±0.14°C by an in-line titanium heater. All bins were lighted to an irradiance of 600 μmol photons m-2s-1 by LED lights set to daily ramping. Beginning on day zero, corals were dark acclimated for approximately 30 minutes after the lights turned off and active chlorophyll fluorescence was recorded from five ramets coral colony-1 species-1 with a diving PAM fluorometer ( blue LED measuring light = 6, saturation intensity = 12, saturation width = 0.8 s, gain = 4, and damping = 2) in order to calculate the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) (Fv/Fm). Once the target high temperature was reached in the experimental bins, corals were sampled for 12 more days for active fluorescence at noon, during peak light intensity, and at night, 30 minutes after the lights had switched off .

Measurements in the light were used to calculate the effective quantum yield of PSII in the light activated state (Fq'/Fm') as well as the excitation pressure over PSII (Qm).

Instruments:

Active chlorophyll fluorescence was recorded with a Diving PAM fluorometer (Walz, Effeltrich)
Seawater temperature was controlled by an in-line chiller and titanium heater DeltaStar DS-3, and Cygnet Mini (Aqualogic Inc.), and light was supplied to each experimental bin by a custom LED array (XP-G3 Cool White LEDs, Cree) controlled with a digital Storm Controller(Coralux).
Water was continuously mixed in each bin by a small submersible pump (Sicce Micra, 90 GPH).

Problems/Issues

Some missing data cells were due to partial mortality on that particular coral ramet at the particular sampling interval and were not used in further data analyses.

Data Processing Description

Some parameters were calculated either directly onboard the instrument (Fv/Fm and Fq'/Fm'), while excitation pressure (Qm) was calculated as = 1 – [(Fq'/Fm')/(Fv/Fm)].

BCO-DMO Processing

* Added sampling latitude and longitude. Offshore – Rebotel Reef (7.248833° N, 134.235817° E), Inshore – Nikko Bay (7.3245° N, 134.4939° E)
* Adjusted parameter headers to comply with database requirements
* Converted dates to ISO format (yyyy-mm-dd)

Data Files

File
855054_v1_palau_pam.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 427.22 KB) MD5:b292e7e8010e84e436e494bdfce72ff4 Primary data file for dataset ID 855054, version 1

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

Funding Source	Award Number
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1635695
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1719684
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1636022

Deployments

None available yet

Instruments

Fluorometer

Supplied Name: Diving PAM fluorometer (Walz, Effeltrich)

Supplied Description:

Active chlorophyll fluorescence was recorded with a Diving PAM fluorometer (Walz, Effeltrich)

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Fluorometer

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/113/

Generic Description:

A fluorometer or fluorimeter is a device used to measure parameters of fluorescence: its intensity and wavelength distribution of emission spectrum after excitation by a certain spectrum of light. The instrument is designed to measure the amount of stimulated electromagnetic radiation produced by pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted into a water sample or in situ.

Parameters

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

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
Location_Name	Name of sampled reef	unitless	region
Longitude	Sampling longitude, west is negative	decimal degrees	lon
Latitude	Sampling latitude, south is negative	decimal degrees	lat
Species	Coral species tested. Psammacora digitata or Pocillopora verrucosa	unitless	species
Date	Sampling date Format: %Y-%m-%d	unitless	date
Day	Day of measurement from start of experiment (time zero)	unitless	day
Treatment	Control (=28 degrees Celsius) or Heated (=32 degrees Celsius)	unitless	treatment
Location	Original collection location. Offshore – Rebotel Reef	unitless	region
Colony	Colony number (1–8 for each species)	unitless	sample_descrip
Frag	Colony fragment number	unitless	sample_descrip
Symbiont	Symbiotic dinoflagellate ID based on ITS2 nomenclature or formal genus and species	unitless	species
Fq_Fm	efficiency of photosystem II in the light activated state measured by PAM fluorometer (relative units)	unitless	no_bcodmo_term
Fv_Fm	Maximum quantum yield of photosystem II measured by PAM fluorometer (relative units)	unitless	Fv_Fm
Qm	Excitation pressure of photosystem II measured by PAM fluorometer (relative units)	unitless	no_bcodmo_term

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Database

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Dataset: Palau Coral Reef Experiment 2018: Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) fluorometry