RRAP_ECT2.1: Coral Heat Tolerance Across Life Stages from Assisted Gene Flow Experiments

Heat stress experiments on three coral species from the Great Barrier Reef, conducted between November 2020 and April 2022, investigate the potential of selective breeding for enhanced thermal resilience. The Australian Ocean Data Network hosts this data from the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, measuring survival, growth, color change, and photosynthetic yield in larvae, juveniles, and adults. Results show higher survival in some inter-region crosses but highlight the complex inheritance of heat tolerance across early life stages.

Use Cases

• Modeling the heritability of heat tolerance based on parental thermal history and cross-region breeding outcomes.
• Analyzing the relationship between inoculated symbiont type and coral survival or photosynthetic efficiency under elevated temperatures.
• Comparing phenotypic trait responses (survival, growth, color) across different coral life stages (larvae, juveniles, adults) during heat stress.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of assisted gene flow as a conservation strategy for enhancing reef resilience.

Strengths

• Experiments cover three coral genera (Acropora kenti, A. tersa, Goniastrea retiformis) and multiple life stages.
• Data collection spans a defined period from 01 November 2020 to 01 April 2022.
• Multiple phenotypic traits were measured, including survival, growth, color change, and photosynthetic yield (YII).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Great Barrier Reef study sites.

Provenance

Source

Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), via Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Controlled heat stress experiments on adult corals, larvae, and recruits, with phenotypic measurements.

Time Range

01 November 2020 - 01 April 2022

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 20:32:44.315207; freshness should be verified

Geography

Great Barrier Reef, Australia