10.5061/DRYAD.2RBNZS7NP
Muir, Paul
0000-0002-3645-6822
Queensland Museum
Done, Terence
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Aguirre, David
Massey University
Species-level coral bleaching data for Maldives and GBR
Dryad
dataset
2021
FOS: Biological sciences
International Union for Conservation of Nature*
Maldives Bleaching 2016
The Nature Conservancy
https://ror.org/0563w1497
AIMS051402
Royal Society of New Zealand
https://ror.org/04tajb587
RDF-19-MAU-006
International Union for Conservation of Nature
Maldives Bleaching 2016
2022-07-12T00:00:00Z
2022-07-12T00:00:00Z
en
577496 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Response to coral bleaching for 7368 coral colonies exposed to similar
levels of temperature stress at a similar depth of occurrence and similar
subsequent mortality. Collected in situ following moderate thermal
bleaching events in the GBR in 2002 and the Maldives in 2016. Data gives
species, site, depth of occurence and bleaching response which was scored
by tissue colour.
For the GBR in 2002 and the MA in 2016, sea surface temperatures (SSTs)
exceeded bleaching thresholds over wide areas for several weeks (NOAA,
2021), resulting in mortalities at some sites to 68% and 86% respectively
(Cowburn et al., 2019; Done et al. 2003). We restricted our analyses to
sites with a DHW of between 4 and 7, which is currently considered
moderate bleaching stress (NOAA 2021, Skirving et al., 2019). Ten
locations (30 sites) from the Maldives were included, all within the large
(~2000 km2) Ari Lagoon complex on high coral-cover reef slopes adjacent to
small islands with little or no human populations (Figure 1a). Sites were
protected from most ocean swells and extended to a sandy base at 20-30 m
depth. Included sites for the GBR (14 locations, 22 sites) were also
situated on high coral-cover reef slopes within the large GBR lagoon
complex (Figure 1b). These sites were either adjacent to small islands or
on the back, lagoon or southern slopes of mid or outer shelf platform
reefs. At each site, timed surveys using SCUBA or snorkel dives of 45-80
minutes duration were conducted, recording bleaching responses and recent
mortality of individuals according to standard methods. Species
identifications were mostly made in situ, with high-resolution macro
photographs or small samples taken from problematic morphotypes (under
permit) for later analysis by comparison with material available in the
Queensland Museum, consultation with relevant experts and reference to
standard texts (see Supporting Information for details). Both datasets
were converted to current valid species (Hoeksema & Cairns, 2019).
For certain genera (e.g. Montipora, Porites, Goniopora and Cycloseris) it
was not possible to accurately assign a species or morphotype in situ, so
these were assessed as grouped species and only considered in a
supplementary analysis.
See readme file