Thermal Tolerance of Acropora Corals Across 14 Great Barrier Reef Sites

Phenotypic variation in heat tolerance was measured for 768 colonies of Acropora spathulata coral. The dataset includes experimental acute heat stress responses, associated field metadata, and environmental variables collected under the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program. Analysis scripts are provided alongside the data.

Use Cases

• Modeling coral thermal tolerance based on phenotypic variation and environmental variables mentioned in the description
• Analyzing spatial patterns in heat stress responses across the 14 reef sites described
• Developing conservation strategies based on measured trait variation within the Acropora spathulata species

Strengths

• Includes data from 768 individual coral colonies, providing a substantial sample size.
• Covers 14 distinct reef sites across the Great Barrier Reef, offering spatial breadth.
• Provides the analysis scripts used to study variation in heat tolerance traits.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Experimental acute heat stress measurements under the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program's Genetic Basis of Coral Traits project.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 16:35:01.606373; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Barrier Reef, 14 reef sites