Dataset: Density of coral recruits on settlement tiles in St. John, US Virigin Islands between 2007 and 2020

ValidatedFinal no updates expectedDOI: 10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.854321.1Version 1 (2021-06-23)Dataset Type:Other Field Results

Principal Investigator: Peter J. Edmunds (California State University Northridge)

BCO-DMO Data Manager: Amber D. York (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)


Project: RUI: Pattern and process in four decades of change on Caribbean reefs (St John Coral Reefs)


Abstract

These data are presented in Figure 1 of Edmunds (2021) and are central to the goals of the paper, and refer to coral recruits found on settlement tiles (15 x 15 x 1 cm) in St. John, US Virgin Islands between 2007 and 2020.

Location: St. John, US Virgin Islands. 18.315°N, 64.716°W

Excerpt from publication Biology Letters

Recruitment

Coral settlement was measured using terracotta tiles (15 × 15 × 1 cm) that were individually attached to the reef at ~ 5-m depth at five sites, where the tiles were ~ 2–100 cm apart. The first tiles were deployed in August 2006, immersed for ~ 6 months, and then replaced in 1/2007, 8/2007, 1/2008, and 8/2008. Thereafter, tiles were immersed for ~12 months and replaced in July/August. Ten tiles site-1 were deployed in the first year, with 15 tiles site-1 thereafter. Tiles were seasoned in seawater for 6–12 months before installation, and were attached horizontally with a ~1 cm gap beneath.

Freshly collected tiles were bleached, dried, and inspected for coral recruits at 40 x magnification. Corals were identified to family, and expressed as corals tile-1 (combined surfaces) for all corals (i.e., pooled taxa), Poritidae, Faviidae, Agaricidae, Siderastreidae, Acroporidae, and unidentified. Since tiles were immersed for ~ 6 months over the first 2 y, mean settlement by deployments was summed within year by site, which precluded calculating within-site variability. Tiles were independent in the 12 months deployments, and means (± s.e.) were calculated by year with sites as replicates (n = 5). 

​Site List:

Cabritte Horn,18.308,-64.722
West Tektite,18.312,-64.623
Yawzi Point,18.315,-64.726
West Little Lameshur,18.317,-64.728
White Point,18.314,-64.731


Related Datasets

IsRelatedTo

Dataset: Density of juvenile corals on reef surfaces
Relationship Description: Data from the same location also published in Edmunds (2021).
Edmunds, P. J. (2021) Density of juvenile corals on reef surfaces in St. John, US Virgin Islands from 1994 to 2020. Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). (Version 1) Version Date 2021-06-23 doi:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.854417.1
IsRelatedTo

Dataset: Juvenile Porites along transects over multiple years
Relationship Description: Data from the same location also published in Edmunds (2021).
Edmunds, P. J. (2021) Juvenile Porites along transects in St. John, US Virigin Islands between 1994 and 2020. Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). (Version 1) Version Date 2021-06-23 doi:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.854447.1
IsRelatedTo

Dataset: Survival of juvenile corals
Relationship Description: Data from the same location also published in Edmunds (2021).
Edmunds, P. J. (2021) Survival of juvenile corals in St. John, US Virigin Islands, annual mortality from 1996 to 2020. Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). (Version 1) Version Date 2021-06-23 doi:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.854455.1

Related Publications

Results

Edmunds, P. J. (2021). Recruitment hotspots and bottlenecks mediate the distribution of corals on a Caribbean reef. Biology Letters, 17(7), 20210149. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2021.0149
Software

Systat Software, Inc. (n.d.). SYSTAT - Powerful Statistical Analysis and Graphics Software Available from https://systatsoftware.com/products/systat/.