This README file was generated on 2024/10/18 by Meng-Hsin Morris Wu (tapewormwu@gmail.com).

1. Date of data collection: 2023
2. Geographic location of data collection: southern, eastern, and northern Taiwan, the West Pacific
3. Funding sources that supported the collection of the data: Ocean Conservation Administration of Taiwan, Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan
4. Recommended citation for this dataset: Wu, Meng-Hsin Morris; Ribas-Deulofeu, Lauriane; Liu, Chia-Hung Eric; Nozawa, Yoko; Denis, Vianney (2025) Data from: Benthic drivers of structural complexity in coral reefs across a tropical-subtropical transition zone [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.931zcrjw2.

Dataset is available in Dryad. The dataset and the R script are also available through the GitHub repository https://github.com/NTU-FRELab/complexity-drivers.git in order to replicate our analyses.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DATA AND FILE STRUCTURE

DATA & FILE OVERVIEW

1. Description of dataset

These data were generated to express structural complexity and the composition of benthic communities over plots across tropical-subtropical transition in Taiwan.

2. File list

There are four spreadsheets in the folder Data.

File 1 complexity_metrics.csv; File 1 description: Complexity metrics of each site.

File 2 composition_substrates.csv; File 2 description: Benthic composition of each site.

File 3 coordinates.xlsx; File 3 description: The longitude and latitude of each site.

File 4 model_quality.xlsx; File 4 description: Quality of the 3D models reconstructed from sites.

METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION

A detailed description of data acquisition and processing can be found in the published manuscript in Frontiers in Marine Science (https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1513498).

DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION

complexity_metrics.csv

1. Number of variables/columns: 25
2. Number of cases/rows: 25
3. Missing data codes: None
4. Variable List

• Column A: Abbreviated site names. The full site name corresponding to the abbreviation is described as below.

• Column B - S4: Value of S - 4 cm at each site.
• Column C - T4: Value of TRI - 4 cm at each site.
• Column D - V4: Value of VRM - 4 cm at each site.
• Column E - S32: Value of S - 32 cm at each site.
• Column F - T32: Value of TRI - 32 cm at each site.
• Column G - V32: Value of VRM - 32 cm at each site.
• Column H - PROC4: Value of PROC - 4 cm at each site.
• Column I - PLC4: Value of PLC - 4 cm at each site.
• Column J - PROC32: Value of PROC - 32 cm at each site.
• Column K - PLC32: Value of PLC - 32 cm at each site.
• Column L - S16: Value of S - 16 cm at each site.
• Column M - T16: Value of TRI - 16 cm at each site.
• Column N - V16: Value of VRM - 16 cm at each site.
• Column O - PROC16: Value of PROC - 16 cm at each site.
• Column P - PLC16: Value of PLC - 16 cm at each site.
• Column Q - D64: Value of D (1 - 64 cm) at each site.
• Column R - SC: Value of SC at each site.
• Column S - D1_2: Value of D (1 - 2 cm) at each site.
• Column T - D2_4: Value of D (2 - 4 cm) at each site.
• Column U - D4_8: Value of D (4 - 8 cm) at each site.
• Column V - D8_16: Value of D (8 - 16 cm) at each site.
• Column W - D16_32: Value of D (16 - 32 cm) at each site.
• Column X - D32_64: Value of D (32 - 64 cm) at each site.
• Column Y - VRSD: Value of Sq at each site.
• Column Z - region: The region where each site nests in. Abbreviation used:

composition_substrates.csv

1. Number of variables/columns: 32
2. Number of cases/rows: 26
3. Missing data codes: None
4. Variable List

• Column A - site: Abbreviated site names.
• Column B - region: Abbreviated regional names.
• Column C - actinia: Relative benthic cover of sea anemone (AN) at each site.
• Column D - hcarb: Relative benthic cover of arborescent hard corals (Arborescent HC) at each site.
• Column E - hcbus: Relative benthic cover of bushy hard corals (Bushy HC) at each site.
• Column F - hccol: Relative benthic cover of columnar hard corals (Columnar HC) at each site.
• Column G - hcenc: Relative benthic cover of encrusting hard corals (Encrusting HC) at each site.
• Column H - hcfol: Relative benthic cover of foliose hard corals (Foliose HC) at each site.
• Column I - hcmas: Relative benthic cover of massive hard corals (Massive HC) at each site.
• Column J - hctab: Relative benthic cover of tabular hard corals (Tabular HC) at each site.
• Column K - ocdig: Relative benthic cover of digitate octocorals (Digitate OC) at each site.
• Column L - oclob: Relative benthic cover of lobate octocorals (Lobate oc) at each site.
• Column M - ocmas: Relative benthic cover of massive octocorals (Massive OC) at each site.
• Column N - tws: Relative benthic cover of marine debris (MD) at each site.
• Column O - fil: Relative benthic cover of turfs (TU) at each site.
• Column P - ocbus: Relative benthic cover of bushy octocorals (Bushy OC) at each site.
• Column Q - ascidian: Relative benthic cover of ascidian (AS) at each site.
• Column R - ocfan: Relative benthic cover of fan-liked octocorals (Fan-liked OC) at each site.
• Column S - zoaenc: Relative benthic cover of encrusting zoanthids (Encrusting ZO) at each site.
• Column T - spoglo: Relative benthic cover of globular sponges (Globular SP) at each site.
• Column U - spomas: Relative benthic cover of massive sponges (Massive SP) at each site.
• Column V - zoamas: Relative benthic cover of massive zoanthids (Massive ZO) at each site.
• Column W - occlu: Relative benthic cover of clustered octocorals (Clustered OC) at each site.
• Column X - ocenc: Relative benthic cover of encrusting octocorals (Encrusting OC) at each site.
• Column Y - other: Relative benthic cover of motil life (OL) at each site.
• Column Z - sporep: Relative benthic cover of repent sponges (Repent SP) at each site.
• Column AA - spopap: Relative benthic cover of papillate sponges (Repent SP) at each site.
• Column AB - coeenc: Relative benthic cover of corallimorpharian (CO) at each site.
• Column AC - cru_or_spoenc: Relative benthic cover of crustose coralline algae (CCA) at each site.
• Column AD - bss: Relative benthic cover of bare stable substrate (BSS) at each site.
• Column AE - ma: Relative benthic cover of macroalgae (MA) at each site.
• Column AF - us: Relative benthic cover of unstable substrates (US) at each site.

coordinates.xlsx

1. Number of variables/columns: 3
2. Number of cases/rows: 26
3. Missing data codes: None
4. Variable List

• Column A - Site: Abbreviated site names.
• Column B - Lat: Latitude of each site.
• Column C - Long: Longitude each site.

model_quality.xlsx

1. Number of variables/columns: 6
2. Number of cases/rows: 26
3. Missing data codes: None
4. Variable List

• Column A - site: Abbreviated site names.
• Column B - images: Number of images used in 3D reconstruction at each site.
• Column C - Res_mm: Pixel size of orthomosaic and Digital Elevated Model (DEM) of each site. Millimeter is the default unit.
• Column D - Reproj_Error: The reprojection error in 3D reconstruction of each site. Pixel is the default unit.
• Column E - Cont_Error: The control error in 3D reconstruction of each site. Pixel is the default unit.
• Column F - PLA: The planar area orthomosaic and DEM cover at each site. Square meter is the default unit.