RRAP ECT 2.1: Field Trial of Selectively Bred Coral Thermal Tolerance

Large scale field trial of a selective coral breeding intervention (RRAP ECT 2.1) was conducted by the Australian Ocean Data Network. The dataset likely contains results from a field test deploying offspring from heat-tolerant and control Acropora spathulata corals across nine sites at Davies Reef on the Great Barrier Reef. Data was collected in October 2023, with the record last updated on 2026-06-16.

Use Cases

• Modeling coral thermal tolerance heritability based on selective breeding outcomes.
• Analyzing coral performance trade-offs based on deployment environment (lagoon, back, flank).
• Evaluating photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm) as a proxy for heat stress in field conditions.

Strengths

• Field trial conducted at nine distinct sites across a reef, suggesting environmental variability.
• Experimental design includes controlled crosses from phenotyped broodstock ranked by heat tolerance.
• Thermal stress test used precise temperature treatments based on local maximum monthly mean data.

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 a single reef study on the Great Barrier Reef.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Field experiment involving selective breeding, rapid heat stress testing, and deployment of coral offspring.

Time Range

Primary data collection in October 2023.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 22:28:51.959768; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Davies Reef, central midshelf Great Barrier Reef (S18.81958°, E147.63129°).