Coral tissue mortality as a function of presence or absence of sea cucumbers and coral outplant type in cage experiments in the lagoonal habitat of Palmyra Atoll in Nov and Dec of 2022 (Coral Biodiversity project)

Abstract

Coral reefs are in global decline with coral diseases playing a significant role. Coral diseases are commonly sediment-associated and could be exacerbated by overharvest of sediment-feeding sea cucumbers. These data include visual assessments of coral (Acropora nasuta) tissue mortality among corals outplanted in 50 x 50 cm cages in sandy lagoonal areas of Palmyra Atoll (5°52'42.6"N, 162°04'09.8"W). Zero or two Stichopus chloronotus sea cucumbers (n = 15 cages per treatment) were placed within each cage, and two outplants of the coral Acropora nasuta were also placed in each cage; one outplant was placed in contact with benthic sediment and the other was elevated 2-3 cm above benthic sediment. Percent tissue mortality of A. nasuta was assessed daily for 14 days (November-December 2022). All coral tissue mortality data were collected by Dr. Cody Clements of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/920233