Dataset: Coral trait variation

Name: Growth and chlorophyll density of individual fragments of the coral Porites divaricata measured during a reciprocal transplant experiment conducted at three sites in Turneffe Atoll, Belize from February to July 2022
Published: 2024-05-20
Keywords: oceans

Cite This Dataset

DOI:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.927890.1

Spatial Extent: N:17.288681 E:-87.81111 S:17.28717 W:-87.815167

Turneffe Atoll, Belize

Temporal Extent: 2022-02 - 2022-07

Project:

OCE-PRF: Drivers of phenotypic diversity and adaptation in asexually propagating coral populations (Adaptation in asexual coral populations)

Principal Investigator:

Karina Scavo Lord (Boston University, BU)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Shannon Rauch (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Version:

Version Date:

2024-05-20

Restricted:

Validated:

Yes

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Growth and chlorophyll density of individual fragments of the coral Porites divaricata measured during a reciprocal transplant experiment conducted at three sites in Turneffe Atoll, Belize from February to July 2022

Abstract:

We sought to investigate the role of genetic, intra-clonal, and environmental variation in driving variation in fitness-related traits in the Caribbean thin finger coral, Porites divaricata (Taxonomy ID: 262287). We conducted a reciprocal transplant experiment whereby fragments from individual coral colonies of known genetic background were transplanted to three sites from February to July 2022. These sites included two mangrove sites and one reef site at Calabash Caye, Turneffe Atoll, Belize. Prior to and post-transplanting, fragments were measured to determine growth rate over this time. Coral fragments were also photographed to determine red channel intensity, which serves as a proxy for chlorophyll density. This dataset contains the measures of these two coral traits (coral fragment growth and chlorophyll density (red channel intensity)) for each coral individual and also contains metadata about the genotype, origin site, transplanted site, rope at transplanted site, and age. A related dataset contains environmental information about each transplanted site over this time period, based on loggers that recorded temperature and light levels. Data were collected by scientists at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Belize.

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Archival Copy

Version Date	Archive	Persistent Identifier (PID)	Date PID Issued
2024-05-20	Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Library (MBLWHOI DLA)	10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.927890.1	2024-05-28

Methods & Sampling

Reciprocal transplant experiment:
In February 2022, 32 colonies (subclone/ramet) of the Caribbean thin finger coral, Porites divaricata (Taxonomy ID: 262287) were identified. 3 to 9 branch fragments were collected from every subclone (colony/ramet). 1 to 3 fragments from each ramet were moved to three designated sites: M1 (mangrove site 1), M2 (mangrove site 2), and R (reef site). 7 to 9 adjacent ropes were deployed at each site (seven ropes at M1 and R, and nine ropes at M2). Following a six-month period (February 2022 - July 2022), two traits were measured for each fragment: length change and red channel intensity, which serves as an inverse indicator of chlorophyll pigment density (Winters, Holzman, Blekhman, Beer, & Loya, 2009).

Trait Measurements:
To measure fragment growth, all fragments were photographed against a scale before and after transplantation, and their lengths were measured from base to apex using ImageJ software. The change in fragment length was determined by dividing the difference between the final and initial lengths by the initial length of the fragment. To measure red channel intensity, all fragments were collected at the end of the experiment and photographed against a laminated DKK color standard (DGK Color Tools) featuring an eleven-step gray scale with true white. Employing the methodology outlined by Winters et al. (2009), these photographs were used to estimate the chlorophyll density of each fragment. Initially, all images were standardized using the gray scale and the MATLAB macro CalibrateImageA. Subsequently, the MATLAB macro AnalyzeIntensity was employed to compute the mean red channel intensity for 20 swatches measuring 25 × 25 pixels for each fragment. Higher values of red channel intensity indicate lower levels of algal photosynthetic pigments (and hence, lower chlorophyll density) (Winters et al., 2009). The MATLAB scripts CalibrateImageA and AnalyzeIntensity are provided in the supplementary files in Winters et al., 2009.

See 'Related Datasets' for the environmental data from the coral transplant sites.

BCO-DMO Processing

- Imported original files "GPSCoords_Data.xlsx" (site locations) and "TraitVariation_Data.xlsx" (trait variation data) into the BCO-DMO system.
- Added Latitude and Longitude columns from the site locations list to the trait dataset by matching on Subclone_ID number.
- Moved the comment "could not get value from photo" which was in the R_fin column to a Comment column
- Saved the final file as "927890_v1_coral_trait_variation.csv".

Data Files

File
927890_v1_coral_trait_variation.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 20.30 KB) MD5:fe52a3e09aa6c90a2b3c084129a87a09 Primary data file for dataset ID 927890, version 1

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

Funding Source	Award Number
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-2126612

Deployments

None available yet

Instruments

Camera

Supplied Name:

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Camera

Acronym: camera

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/311/

Generic Description:

All types of photographic equipment including stills, video, film and digital systems.

Parameters

Date and time formats are described in python strftime() syntax.

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
sample	Tag number of transplant	unitless	sample
origin	Site from which sample was collected (originated): M2 = mangrove site 2, M1= mangrove site 1	unitless	site
clone	Color indicating which genotype the sample belongs to, each color represents a different genotype	unitless	sample
subclone	Character string representing which coral colony (or subclone) each sample belongs to	unitless	sample
sublcone_longitude	Longitude of where coral colony (subclone) was collected; negative values = West	decimal degrees	lon
subclone_latitude	Latitude of where coral colony (subclone) was collected; positive values = North	decimal degrees	lat
trans_site	Site where each sample was transplanted to : M2 = mangrove site 2, M1= mangrove site 1, R = reef	unitless	site
rope	Rope number that each sample was strung on at the transplanted site	unitless	sample_descrip
loc_grtn	Character string indicating whether the colony was transplanted to its home or away site and whether it is an early generation subclone (old) or young generation (young) subclone	unitless	sample_descrip
age2	Age of the coral subclone/colony in years	years	age
grtn	Indicates whether subclone/colony is early generation (old) or late generation (young)	unitless	sample_descrip
loc	Indicates whether the sample was transplanted to its home site or away site	unitless	sample_descrip
len_in	Initial length of fragment at time of transplanting (start of transplant experiment)	centimeters (cm)	length
len_fin	Final length of fragment at the end of the transplant experiment. NA indicates that sample did not survive to the end of the fragmentation experiment to be measured.	centimeters (cm)	length
len_chg	Change of length of fragment over the duration of the transplant experiment. NA indicates that sample did not survive to the end of the fragmentation experiment to be measured.	centimeters (cm)	length
len_ct	Change of length of fragment over the duration of the transplant experiment divided by the initial length of fragment. NA indicates that sample did not survive to the end of the fragmentation experiment to be measured.	centimeters (cm)	length
R_fin	Red channel intensity value of sample; measured as intensity of red color in image, 0-255	unitless	image_analysis
Comment	Notes or comments	unitless	comment