Critical Thermal Maxima for Three Kelp Species in the Western English Channel

115.3 KB of experimental data quantifies critical thermal maxima (CTmax) for three kelp species: Laminaria digitata, Saccharina latissima, and Laminaria ochroleuca. The data was collected by Tayla Leathers and published on figshare in April 2026. It assesses the impact of methodology and thermal history on CTmax estimates derived from thermal performance curves.

Use Cases

• Modeling thermal performance curves for kelp based on Fv/Fm measurements mentioned in the description.
• Comparing CTmax estimation methodologies (excised discs vs. whole plants) as described in the experimental protocol.
• Analyzing the influence of seasonal conditions and marine heatwaves on thermal tolerance thresholds.
• Studying biogeographical variation in thermal resilience among kelp species from the Western English Channel.

Strengths

• Data includes three distinct kelp species (Laminaria digitata, Saccharina latissima, Laminaria ochroleuca) for comparative analysis.
• Experimental protocol is clearly described, involving daily measurements of Fv/Fm, biomass, and mortality under controlled temperature increases.
• Dataset is openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0, permitting reuse and redistribution.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset's 115.3 KB size suggests a limited scope, likely containing summary or derived experimental results rather than raw time-series.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Experimental assay where temperatures were increased 2°C per day from ambient until an endpoint was reached, with daily measurement of response variables.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-29 11:19:25; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Western English Channel