Dataset: Palau Coral Growth

Name: Average yearly extension rate, calcification rate, and density for each core sample from Porites cf. lobata coral at Palau's Rock Islands
Published: 2023-04-27
Keywords: oceans

Cite This Dataset

DOI:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.894930.1

Spatial Extent: N:8.03909 E:134.69 S:2.95346 W:131.843

Temporal Extent: 1970 - 2014

Project:

The Biophysics of Coral Reef Resilience: hydrodynamic and ecological drivers of coral survival under extreme heat (Biophysics of Coral Reef Resilience)

Principal Investigator:

Anne L. Cohen (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI)

Scientist:

Hanny Rivera (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

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

Version:

Version Date:

2023-04-27

Restricted:

Validated:

Yes

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Average yearly extension rate, calcification rate, and density for each core sample from Porites cf. lobata coral at Palau's Rock Islands

Abstract:

Ocean warming is killing corals, but heat-tolerant populations exist; if protected, they could replenish affected reefs naturally or through restoration. Palau's Rock Islands experience consistently higher temperatures and extreme heatwaves, yet their diverse coral communities bleach less than those on Palau's cooler outer reefs. Here, we combined genetic analyses, bleaching histories, and growth rates of Porites cf. lobata colonies to identify thermally tolerant genotypes, map their distribution, and investigate potential growth trade-offs. We identified four genetic lineages of P. cf. lobata. On Palau's outer reefs, a thermally sensitive lineage dominates. The Rock Islands harbor two lineages with enhanced thermal tolerance; one of which shows no consistent growth trade-off and also occurs on several outer reefs. This suggests that the Rock Islands provide naturally tolerant larvae to neighboring areas. Finding and protecting such sources of thermally-tolerant corals is key to reef survival under 21st century climate change. This dataset contains the average yearly extension rate, calcification rate, and density for each core sample.

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Archival Copy

Version Date	Archive	Persistent Identifier (PID)	Date PID Issued
2023-04-27	Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Library (MBLWHOI DLA)	10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.894930.1	2023-05-23

Methods & Sampling

Samples were collected from coral reefs of Palau's Rock Islands. Coral cores (N = 121) were taken using an underwater pneumatic drill equipped with a diamond-tipped drill bit powered by compressed air from a SCUBA tank. Cores ranged from 10 to 204 centimeters (cm) long, covering years from 1970 to 2014. Cores were dried in an oven and imaged using a Volume Zoom Helical Computerized Tomography (CT) Scanner at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Scans were analyzed using an automated computer program. Cores that displayed high levels of bioerosion, inconsistent banding patterns, partial mortality, or other deformities preventing accurate identification of annual growth bands, and as a result, correct identification of years corresponding to bleaching events, were excluded from analysis (N = 42). Of the remaining 80 cores, 11 had unsuccessful DNA extractions or failed other downstream genetic data filters, leaving 69 corals for final analyses. Coral samples were imported to the U.S. under CITES permit numbers: PW14-163, PW15-022, PW18-121. RAD-sequencing data are available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under accession number PRJNA801929. Additional input data are available in the GitHub repository of H.E.R. at https://github.com/hrivera28/Palau_porites (DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.7953614).

Data Processing Description

Data Processing:
Growth metrics (extension and calcification rates and density) were calculated for each core by averaging the yearly growth during the years 1999 to 2009, in order to avoid bleaching years that might influence growth patterns. Stress bands were defined as a region of the core at least 1 millimeter (mm) thick in which density and the change in density gradient exceeded two standard deviations above each individual whole core average density and gradient. See related BCO-DMO dataset https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/894894 for the stress band data.

BCO-DMO Processing:
- added the Lat and Long fields using the site location data from the related stress band dataset.

Data Files

File
growth_data.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 90.53 KB) MD5:24c28e68ccf3b95755d3c73473a9769c Primary data file for dataset ID 894930.

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

Funding Source	Award Number
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-2049567

Deployments

None available yet

Instruments

Computerized Tomography (CT) Scanner

Supplied Name: Volume Zoom Helical Computerized Tomography (CT) Scanner

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Computerized Tomography (CT) Scanner

Acronym: CT Scanner

Generic Description:

A CT scan makes use of computer-processed combinations of many X-ray measurements taken from different angles to produce cross-sectional (tomographic) images (virtual "slices") of specific areas of a scanned object.

Drill

Supplied Name: underwater pneumatic drill

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Drill

Generic Description:

A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. There are many types of drills: some are powered manually, and others use electricity (electric drill) or compressed air as the motive power. Drills with a percussive action (hammer drills) are mostly used in hard materials such as masonry (brick, concrete, and stone) or rock. Some types of hand-held drills are also used to drive screws and other fasteners.

Parameters

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

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
Sample	Identifier code for sample	unitless	sample
Site	The name of the reef at which the sample was taken	unitless	site
Lat	latitude of location	decimal degrees North	lat
Long	longitude of location	decimal degrees East	lon
Core	Identifier code for the physical coral core (differs from Sample name)	unitless	sample
Year	Year of coral growth	unitless	year
Density	Average density of core during the designated year of growth	grams per cubic centimeter (g cm-3)	density
ExtRate	Average extension rate of core during the designated year of growth	centimeters per year (cm y-1)	growth
CalcRate	Average calcification rate of core during the designated year of growth	grams per square centimeter per year (g cm-2 y-1)	calcification

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Dataset: Palau Coral Growth