Data Package Metadata View Summary

Scott Reef and Rowley Shoals Coral Bleaching Data

General Information

Data Package:
Local Identifier:	edi.406.3
Title:	Scott Reef and Rowley Shoals Coral Bleaching Data
Alternate Identifier:	DOI PLACE HOLDER
Abstract:	Coral reefs have evolved over millennia to survive disturbances. Yet, in just a few decades chronic local pressures and the climate catastrophe have accelerated so quickly that most coral reefs are now threatened. Rising ocean temperatures and recurrent bleaching pose the biggest threat, affecting even remote and well-managed reefs on global scales. We illustrate how coral bleaching is altering reefs by contrasting the dynamics of adjacent reef systems over more than two decades. Both reef systems sit near the edge of the northwest Australia’s continental shelf, have escaped chronic local pressures and are regularly affected by tropical storms and cyclones. The Scott reef system has experienced multiple bleaching events, including mass bleaching in 1998 and 2016, from which it is unlikely to fully recover. The Rowley Shoals has maintained a high cover and diversity of corals and has not yet been impacted by mass bleaching. We show how the dynamics of both reef systems were driven by a combination of local environment, exposure to disturbances and coral life history traits, and consider future shifts in community structure with ongoing climate change. We then demonstrate how applying knowledge of community dynamics at local scales can aid management strategies to slow the degradation of coral reefs until carbon emissions and other human impacts are properly managed.
Publication Date:	2021-08-11

Time Period

Begin:

1994-01-10

End:

2017-01-11

People and Organizations
Contact:	Gilmour, James P (AIMS) [ email ]
Creator:	Gilmour, James P (AIMS)
Creator:	Cook, Kylie L (AIMS)
Creator:	Ryan, Nicole M (AIMS)
Associate:	Case, Mark J (AIMS, Data Manager)

Data Entities
Data Table Name:	Long-term Reef Slope
Description:	Long-term monitoring data from 1994 at reef slope habitats.
Data Table Name:	Habitats 2016 Bleaching Cover
Description:	Percentage coral bleaching in 2016 and associated changes in coral cover at different habitats.

Detailed Metadata

Data Entities

Data Table


Data:	https://pasta-s.lternet.edu/package/data/eml/edi/406/3/f6212784c45d0a077f2c863868d22c4b
Name:	Long-term Reef Slope
Description:	Long-term monitoring data from 1994 at reef slope habitats.
Number of Records:	159
Number of Columns:	18

Table Structure

Object Name:

Rowley_Shoals_and_Scott_Reef_Long-term_Reef_Slope_coral.csv

Size:

18516 bytes

Authentication:

5861c5f37cdc191b055c499001f91353 Calculated By MD5

Text Format:

Number of Header Lines:

Record Delimiter:

\r\n

Orientation:

column

Simple Delimited:

Field Delimiter:

Table Column Descriptions

Column Name:

System

Reef

Location

Year (decimal)

Soft Coral

Millepora

Echinopora and other foliose corals

Merulinidae and other massives

Fungiidae

Isopora

Montipora and other encrusting coral

Pocilloporidae

Porites Branching

Porites Massive

Acropora

Diploastrea

Pavona

Other Hard Coral

Definition:

Reef System

Individual Reef Name

One or more replicate locations within each Reef

Date recorded as Deci-year

Coral Classification; percentage of total bentic cover

Storage Type:

string

float

Measurement Type:

nominal

ratio

Measurement Values Domain:

Definition

Reef System

Definition

Individual Reef Name

Definition

One or more replicate locations within each Reef

Unit	dimensionless
Type	real
Min	1994.83
Max	2020.83

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	21.95

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	9.63

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	9.44

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0.08
Max	10.99

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	9.37

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	27.21

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0.24
Max	16.03

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	13.27

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	5.17

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	19.73

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	48.92

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	11.23

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	11.39

Unit	percent
Type	real
Min	0
Max	9.63

Missing Value Code:

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Code	N/A
Expl	no data

Accuracy Report:

Accuracy Assessment:

Coverage:

Methods:

Data Table


Data:	https://pasta-s.lternet.edu/package/data/eml/edi/406/3/cceb2d904caf463782ea400d390fd4fd
Name:	Habitats 2016 Bleaching Cover
Description:	Percentage coral bleaching in 2016 and associated changes in coral cover at different habitats.
Number of Records:	105
Number of Columns:	8

Table Structure

Object Name:

Rowley_Shoals_and_Scott_Reef_Habitats_2016_Bleaching_Cover.csv

Size:

4764 bytes

Authentication:

fd67688faef9ead56edbf7c4e6fd4834 Calculated By MD5

Text Format:

Number of Header Lines:

Record Delimiter:

\r\n

Orientation:

column

Simple Delimited:

Field Delimiter:

Table Column Descriptions

Column Name:

System

Reef

Habitat

Site

Percentage bleaching

Pre-bleaching cover

Post-bleaching cover

Decrease Cover

Definition:

Reef System

Individual Reef Name

Reef Habitat Type (Crest, Slope, Lagoon)

Replicate sites within each Habitat

Percentage bleaching

Pre-bleaching coral cover, Percentage of total coral colonies

Post-bleaching coral cover, Percentage of total benthic cover

Change in coral cover, Difference in percentage of total benthic cover

Storage Type:

string

Measurement Type:

nominal

Measurement Values Domain:

Definition

Reef System

Definition

Individual Reef Name

Definition

Reef Habitat Type (Crest, Slope, Lagoon)

Definition

Replicate sites within each Habitat

Definition

Percentage bleaching

Definition

Pre-bleaching coral cover, Percentage of total coral colonies

Definition

Post-bleaching coral cover, Percentage of total benthic cover

Definition

Change in coral cover, Difference in percentage of total benthic cover

Missing Value Code:

Accuracy Report:

Accuracy Assessment:

Coverage:

Methods:

Data Package Usage Rights

This information is released under the Creative Commons license - Attribution - CC BY-NC-ND (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). The consumer of these data ("Data User" herein) is required to cite it appropriately in any publication that results from its use. The Data User should realize that these data may be actively used by others for ongoing research and that coordination may be necessary to prevent duplicate publication. The Data User is urged to contact the authors of these data if any questions about methodology or results occur. Where appropriate, the Data User is encouraged to consider collaboration or co-authorship with the authors. The Data User should realize that misinterpretation of data may occur if used out of context of the original study. While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and associated documentation, complete accuracy of data sets cannot be guaranteed. All data are made available "as is." The Data User should be aware, however, that data are updated periodically and it is the responsibility of the Data User to check for new versions of the data. The data authors and the repository where these data were obtained shall not be liable for damages resulting from any use or misinterpretation of the data. Thank you.

Keywords

By Thesaurus:
(No thesaurus)	adaptive management, Anthropocene, coral bleaching, cumulative pressures, reef restoration
LTER Controlled Vocabulary	community dynamics, monitoring

Methods and Protocols

These methods, instrumentation and/or protocols apply to all data in this dataset:

Methods and protocols used in the collection of this data package

Description:

The Rowley Shoals (RS) and Scott (SR) reef systems are located near the edge of northwest Australia’s continental shelf, hundreds of kilometres from the mainland and from each other. Each reef system spans ≈100 km, consisting of three reef atolls ≈20 km in length, sharing common habitats and coral communities. Long-term changes in benthic communities and habitat conditions were studied on the reef slope (6 m lowest astronomical tide, LAT) at locations across each reef system. At each location, three replicate sites, separated by 300 m, were surveyed from 1994 at SR and from 1995 at RS, usually every 1–2 years (< 4 years). Each site consisted of 5 permanently marked 50 m transects, laid end-to-end and separated by 10 m.

During each survey, a tape was laid along permanent transects and at every metre images of the benthic community were captured at a distance of 30 - 50 cm from the substratum. Each image was analysed by identifying the benthic group under each of five fixed points to the lowest taxonomic resolution. Data were grouped according to coral taxon (i.e., family, genus) and growth form (encrusting, foliose, massive, branching).

To assess the effects of predicted heat stress in 2016 in habitats other than the reef slope, additional monitoring locations were established at the reef crest (3m LAT) and lagoon at each reef. Locations in the lagoon included both the top edge (0 to 3m) and base (7 to 12 m) of large (>100 m) coral outcrops (bommies). A single site at each location consisted of 6 permanently marked 20 m transects, laid end-to-end and separated by 10 m. Surveys were conducted before (January) and during (April) the time of peak heat stress in 2016, and in October 2016 at SR and October 2017 at RS to quantify associated reductions in coral cover. At the time of peak heat stress, bleaching observations were recorded at both the permanent monitoring sites and at additional random sites (same number and length of transects) within all habitats. The percentage of bleached corals at each site was estimated according to the following categories: <10%, 11–30%, 31–60%, 61–90% and >90%. Colonies wholly or partially bleached, or recently dead (intact skeletons and recent algal growth) were considered bleached in these estimates.

People and Organizations

Publishers:

Organization:

Environmental Data Initiative

Email Address:

info@environmentaldatainitiative.org

Web Address:

https://environmentaldatainitiative.org

Creators:

Individual:

James P Gilmour

Organization:

AIMS

Email Address:

j.gilmour@aims.gov.au

Id:

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7179-6662

Individual:

Kylie L Cook

Organization:

AIMS

Email Address:

k.cook@aims.gov.au

Individual:

Nicole M Ryan

Organization:

AIMS

Email Address:

n.ryan@aims.gov.au

Contacts:

Individual:

James P Gilmour

Organization:

AIMS

Email Address:

j.gilmour@aims.gov.au

Id:

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7179-6662

Associated Parties:

Individual:

Mark J Case

Organization:

AIMS

Email Address:

m.case@aims.gov.au

Role:

Data Manager

Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

Temporal, Geographic and/or Taxonomic information that applies to all data in this dataset:

Time Period

Begin:

1994-01-10

End:

2017-01-11

Geographic Region:

Description:

Scott Reef and Rowley Shoals

Bounding Coordinates:

Northern:	-13.832713	Southern:	-17.732722
Western:	118.838838	Eastern:	122.044266

Project

Parent Project Information:

Title:

No project title to report

Personnel:

Individual:

James P Gilmour

Organization:

AIMS

Email Address:

j.gilmour@aims.gov.au

Id:

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7179-6662

Role:

Principal Investigator

Funding:

Australian Federal Government - Australian Institute of Marine Science

Related Project:

Title:

Browse LNG Development Joint Venture

Personnel:

Individual:

James P Gilmour

Organization:

AIMS

Email Address:

j.gilmour@aims.gov.au

Id:

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7179-6662

Role:

Principal Investigator

Funding:

Woodside Energy Limited

Related Project:

Title:

North West Shoals to Shore research program

Personnel:

Individual:

James P Gilmour

Organization:

AIMS

Email Address:

j.gilmour@aims.gov.au

Id:

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7179-6662

Role:

Principal Investigator

Funding:

Santos

Related Project:

Title:

No project title to report

Personnel:

Individual:	Marjetta L Puotinen
Role:	Principal Investigator

Funding:

Australian Federal Government - Australian Institute of Marine Science

Maintenance

Maintenance:

Description:	ongoing
Frequency:

Other Metadata

Copyright 2024 Environmental Data Initiative. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants #2223103 and #2223104. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Please contact us with questions, comments, or for technical assistance regarding this web site or the Environmental Data Initiative. Please read our privacy policy to know what information we collect about you and to understand your privacy rights.

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Data Package Metadata View Summary

Scott Reef and Rowley Shoals Coral Bleaching Data

Data Entities

Data Table

Data Table

Data Package Usage Rights

Keywords

Methods and Protocols

These methods, instrumentation and/or protocols apply to all data in this dataset:

People and Organizations

Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

Project

Parent Project Information:

Maintenance

Recently Added

Recently Updated

Data Package Metadata View Summary

Scott Reef and Rowley Shoals Coral Bleaching Data

+/- Data Entities

Data Table

Data Table

+/- Data Package Usage Rights

+/- Keywords

+/- Methods and Protocols

These methods, instrumentation and/or protocols apply to all data in this dataset:

+/- People and Organizations

+/- Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

+/- Project

Parent Project Information:

+/- Maintenance

Data Entities

Data Package Usage Rights

Keywords

Methods and Protocols

People and Organizations

Temporal, Geographic and Taxonomic Coverage

Project

Maintenance