Dataset: Photosystem II (PSII) photochemical efficiency (Yield PSII) recorded at noon (ΔF/Fm') and at dusk (Fv/Fm) on random coral colonies of Orbicella faveolata from Varadero and Rosario reefs, Colombia, May 2017

These are primary data of the PSII photochemical efficiency (Yield PSII) recorded at noon (ΔF/Fm') and at dusk (Fv/Fm) in a reciprocal transplant experiment and on random colonies. The data reported here were obtained from random colonies of coral fragments used in a transplant experiment.

The Varadero Reef is located south-west of the Cartagena Bay close to the southern strait that connects the Bay to the Caribbean Sea in Colombia (10°18’23.3”N, 75°35’08.0”W). The Bay is a receiving estuary from the Magdalena River through the Canal del Dique, a man-made channel whose construction and operation dates back almost a century. Three study sites with contrasting light regimes were considered in order to evaluate the role of the light-environment perturbation associated with the Dique channel freshwater plume on the photosynthetic performance of corals from Varadero: 1) Varadero reef at 3.5m depth close to the Dique channel mouth (10°18’23.3”N, 75°35’08.0”W), 2) Rosario reef at 12m depth as clear-control site 21 km southwest from Varadero (10°11'12.1"N, 75°44'43.0"W), and 3) Cartagena Bay at 3m depth, the closest site to the Dique channel mouth and most turbid among the three sites (10°18'5.80"N, 75°34'37.10"W).

These data were used in the manuscript “Degradation of the underwater light environment: physiological and ecological consequences for reef corals” submitted to the Journal Nature Communications Biology. [under review. 2019-12-28]