A 2023 field trial deployed selectively bred Acropora spathulata coral offspring from heat-tolerant and control broodstock to nine sites at Davies Reef on the Great Barrier Reef. The dataset was collected by the Australian Ocean Data Network and involves measurements of photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm) as a proxy for heat stress. It tests the heritability of thermal tolerance in corals under natural reef conditions.
Use Cases
- Modeling coral thermal tolerance heritability based on selective breeding crosses.
- Assessing the impact of deployment environment on coral performance post-intervention.
- Comparing laboratory-derived heat tolerance metrics with field survival outcomes.
- Analyzing spatial variation in coral stress response across reef zones (lagoon, back, flank).
Strengths
- Data is based on a controlled experiment with 40 adult coral colonies and three distinct gamete crosses.
- Field deployment covers nine distinct sites across a reef, providing spatial context.
- Thermal stress testing used precise temperature treatments (+4°C, +7°C, +10°C) relative to a local maximum monthly mean.
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 site.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Field experiment involving selective breeding, rapid heat stress testing, and deployment of coral offspring.
- Time Range
- 2023
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-23 00:51:20.727556; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Davies Reef, central midshelf Great Barrier Reef, Bindal Sea Country.