Dataset: The effects of nutrient enrichment and predation on coral health and microbiomes from June to August 2013 in Key Largo, FL (small grazers facilitating fungal disease project)

To assess how predation and nutrients affect corals and their microbiomes, we exposed colonies of A. cervicornis to a fully factorial field experiment from June to August 2013. This coral species is currently listed as ‘threatened’ under the US Endangered Species Act (NOAA Fisheries 2015) and ‘critically endangered’ under the IUCN Red List (Aronson et al. 2008); therefore, this experiment could not be conducted in natural reef settings or with already-restored colonies. Thus, we conducted this experiment in the Coral Restoration Foundation’s coral nursery in Key Largo, FL, USA in an open sand flat (30-ft depth) using corals grown through established propagation techniques (Johnson et al. 2011).

Related References:
Aronson, R., Bruckner, A., Moore, J., Precht, B. & E. Weil. 2008. Acropora cervicornis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T133381A3716457. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T133381A3716457.en.
Meaghan E. Johnson, Caitlin Lustic, Erich Bartels, Iliana B. Baums, David S. Gilliam, Elizabeth Anne Larson, Diego Lirman, Margaret W. Miller, Ken Nedimyer, and S. Schopmeyer. 2011. Caribbean Acropora Restoration Guide: Best Practices for Propagation and Population Enhancement : 1 -64. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facreports/71.
Shaver, E. C., Shantz, A. A., McMinds, R., Burkepile, D. E., Vega Thurber, R. L. and Silliman, B. R. (2017), Effects of predation and nutrient enrichment on the success and microbiome of a foundational coral. Ecology, 98: 830–839. doi:10.1002/ecy.1709