Coral Outplanting Site Scores for Florida Reef Tract

Climate vulnerability rankings for Acropora cervicornis outplanting sites in the Florida Reef Tract were developed using a model integrating seven resilience indicators. The dataset includes gridded netCDF files, maps, and a Google Earth tool with layers for depth, turbidity, resilience, bleaching projections, and outplanting scores. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) compiled this data, which contains climate model projections from 2006 to 2099.

Use Cases

• Rank potential outplanting locations using the composite outplanting_score layer from the Google Earth tool.
• Assess site-specific climate exposure by analyzing the year_of_annual_severe_bleaching layer for future projections.
• Evaluate habitat suitability by filtering sites within the 5-15m depth_range and hard bottom/coral present criteria.
• Model coral resilience by combining the seven indicator layers: coral_cover, macroalgae_cover, bleaching_resistance, coral_diversity, coral_disease, herbivore_biomass, and temperature_variability.

Strengths

• Projections span nearly a century, from 2006 to 2099.
• Site rankings incorporate seven distinct biological and environmental resilience indicators.
• Data is provided in multiple complementary formats: gridded netCDF, maps, a Google Earth tool, and a guidance document.

Limitations

• The sample size (number of ranked locations) is not specified.
• Projections rely on climate model data, introducing inherent uncertainty.
• Data is specific to the Florida Acropora Critical Habitat, limiting geographic generalizability.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI Accession 0209226).

Collection Method

Model-based ranking using climate projections and seven resilience metrics within defined habitat and depth constraints.

Time Range

2006-01-01 to 2099-12-31 (projections).

Freshness

Projections extend to 2099-12-31, but the underlying data collection period is not specified.

Geography

Florida Reef Tract, specifically within the Acropora Critical Habitat.