Ecological results of SCTLD multi-species transmission experiment at the University of the Virgin Islands Center for Marine and Environmental Studies

Abstract

This dataset represents the ecological results of a stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) multi-species transmission experiment. Eight colonies of six species of corals (Colpophyllia natans, Montastraea cavernosa, Orbicella annularis, Porites astreoides, Pseudodiploria strigosa, and Siderastrea siderea) were split in half and one half of these fragments were simultaneously exposed toSCTLD-affected colonies of Diploria labyrinthiformis and the other half were exposed to healthy colonies of D. labyrinthiformis. All corals were monitored for lesion appearance over an eight day experimental period. No lesions were recorded on healthy-exposed corals. Numbers of fragments showing lesion appearance, time to lesion appearance, and expansion rates of lesions for SCTLD-exposed corals are reported here.

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/875156