Project: Collaborative research: Ecology and functional biology of octocoral communities

Acronym/Short Name:VI Octocorals
Project Duration:2013-09 - 2018-02
Geolocation:St. John, US Virgin Islands: 18.3185, 64.7242

Description

The recent past has not been good for coral reefs, and journals have been filled with examples of declining coral cover, crashing fish populations, rising cover of macroalgae, and a future potentially filled with slime. However, reefs are more than the corals and fishes for which they are known best, and their biodiversity is affected strongly by other groups of organisms. The non-coral fauna of reefs is being neglected in the rush to evaluate the loss of corals and fishes, and this project will add on to an on-going long term ecological study by studying soft corals. This project will be focused on the ecology of soft corals on reefs in St. John, USVI to understand the Past, Present and the Future community structure of soft corals in a changing world. For the Past, the principal investigators will complete a retrospective analysis of octocoral abundance in St. John between 1992 and the present, as well as Caribbean-wide since the 1960's. For the Present, they will: (i) evaluate spatio-temporal changes between soft corals and corals, (ii) test for the role of competition with macroalgae and between soft corals and corals as processes driving the rising abundance of soft corals, and (iii) explore the role of soft corals as "animal forests" in modifying physical conditions beneath their canopy, thereby modulating recruitment dynamics. For the Future the project will conduct demographic analyses on key soft corals to evaluate annual variation in population processes and project populations into a future impacted by global climate change.

This project was funded to provide and independent "overlay" to the ongoing LTREB award (DEB-1350146, co-funded by OCE, PI Edmunds) focused on the long-term dynamics of coral reefs in St. John.

Note: This project is closely associated with the project "RAPID: Resilience of Caribbean octocorals following Hurricanes Irma and Maria". See: https://www.bco-dmo.org/project/749653.

The following publications and data resulted from this project:
2017 Tsounis, G., and P. J. Edmunds. Three decades of coral reef community dynamics in St. John, USVI: a contrast of scleractinians and octocorals. Ecosphere 8(1):e01646. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1646
Rainfall and temperature data
Coral and macroalgae abundance and distribution
Descriptions of hurricanes affecting St. John

2016 Gambrel, B. and Lasker, H.R. Marine Ecology Progress Series 546: 85–95, DOI: 10.3354/meps11670
Colony to colony interactions
Eunicea flexuosa interactions
Gorgonia ventalina asymmetry
Nearest neighbor surveys

2015 Lenz EA, Bramanti L, Lasker HR, Edmunds PJ. Long-term variation of octocoral populations in St. John, US Virgin Islands. Coral Reefs DOI 10.1007/s00338-015-1315-x
octocoral survey - densities
octocoral counts - photoquadrats vs. insitu survey
octocoral literature review
Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2015 Privitera-Johnson, K., et al., Density-associated recruitment in octocoral communities in St. John, US Virgin Islands, J.Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2015.08.006
octocoral density dependence
Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

Other datasets related to this project:
octocoral transects - adult colony height


DatasetLatest Version DateCurrent State
Octocoral recruitment surveys on transects at 5 sites on the south shore of St. John, US Virgin Islands, 2014-2019.2021-08-31Final no updates expected
Fish bite rates of individual 'focal' herbivorous fishes within and outside of canopies at Lameshur Bay, St John, USVI, Feb- Mar 20162020-10-08Final no updates expected
Demersal fish feeding rates within and at edges of octocoral communities at Lameshur Bay, St John, USVI, Feb- Mar 20162020-10-08Final no updates expected
Scleractinian coral counts within and outside of canopies at Lameshur Bay, St John, USVI, Feb- Mar 20162020-10-07Final no updates expected
Fish abundance and foraging rates by family from point surveys within and outside of canopies at Lameshur Bay, St John, USVI, Feb- Mar 20162020-10-07Final no updates expected
Nearest neighboring octocoral data from long-term sampling sites in St. John, USVI.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
Rugosity of long-term octocoral transects in St. John, USVI from 2014 to 2015.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
Mean density of coral and the percentage of encrusting coral on long-term sampling sites in St. John, USVI.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
Size frequency of octocorals along long-term transects in St. John, USVI from 2014 to 2015.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
Light intensity at various times along long-term octocoral transects in St. John, USVI from 2014 to 2015.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
The frequency of distances to the nearest Milleopora for coral species found on long-term sampling sites in St. John, USVI.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
Mean wave direction at long-term coral sampling sites in St. John, USVI from 2011 to 2015.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
Distribution of octocoral colonies from long-term sampling sites in St. John, USVI.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
The number of coral colonies found on long-term sampling sites in St. John, USVI during 2014 and 2015.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
Sedimentation at long-term octocoral transects in St. John, USVI from 2014 to 2015.2018-09-06Final no updates expected
Measurements of rainfall and surface light intensity (PAR) in St. John, US Virgin Islands from 2014-2017.2018-07-13Final no updates expected
Kd averages calculated by month from studies conducted in St. John, US Virgin Islands from 2014-2017.2018-07-13Final no updates expected
Measurements of light intensity (PAR) underwater (19 m depth) in St. John, US Virgin Islands from 2014-2017.2018-07-13Final no updates expected
Location, abundance, and size of various octocoral species in St. John, USVI from 2014 to 2015.2018-07-13Final no updates expected
Adult octocoral height measurements from transects conducted at St. John, US Virgin Islands between 2014-2016 (St. John LTREB project, VI_Octocorals)2018-04-05Final no updates expected
Octocoral species list used during surveys in St. John, US Virgin Islands between 2014-2017 (St. John LTREB project, VI_Octocorals)2018-04-05Final no updates expected
Storm record from St. John, USVI in 1987–2011 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project).2016-11-08Final no updates expected
Scleractinia, macroalgae and octocoral surveys describing species abundance and distribution, in St. John, USVI in 1987–2013 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project).2016-11-08Final no updates expected
Octocorals surveys 1987–2013 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project).2016-11-08Final no updates expected
Rainfall and seawater temperature in St. John, USVI in 1987–2013 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project).2016-11-08Final no updates expected
Data describing interactions between neighboring coral colonies on St. John, Virgin Islands in 2014.2016-10-25Final no updates expected
Data describing Gorgonia ventalina interactions on St. John, Virgin Islands in 2015.2016-10-25Final no updates expected
Data describing interactions between colonies on St. John, Virgin Islands in 2014.2016-10-25Final no updates expected
Data from surveys of Eunicea flexusa colonies on St. John, VI National Park from 2014.2016-10-24Final no updates expected
Octocorals, scleractinia, macroalgae surveys describing species abundance and distribution on St. John and St. Thomas, USVI in 2011 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project)2016-01-06Final no updates expected
Density of adult and juvenile octocorals on shallow reefs in St. John, US Virgin Islands from 2010 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project)2015-08-31Final no updates expected
Soft coral counts from photoquadrats and in situ observations collected on St. John, Virgin Islands from 1992-2012 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project)2015-08-20Final no updates expected
Soft coral densities counted from photoquadrats collected on St. John, Virgin Islands from 1992-2012 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project)2015-08-20Final no updates expected
Soft coral literature review on species observed in St. John, US Virgin Island from 1992-2012 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project)2015-07-17Final no updates expected

Project Home Page



People

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

Principal Investigator: Howard Lasker
State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo)

Scientist: Dr Lorenzo Bramanti
California State University Northridge (CSUN)

Contact: Peter J. Edmunds
California State University Northridge (CSUN)


Data Management Plan

DMP_Edmunds_OCE-1332915.pdf (54.44 KB)
02/09/2025