https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qrz4

Brooding and parthenogenesis enhance the success of the coral, Porites astreoide,s relative to Orbicella annularis

Description of the data and file structure

The data file is in 7 Excel worksheets.

The first sheet “Explanations” describes what data is contained in the other 6 worksheets

The second sheet is “Coral Genotypes”. These are the microsatellite genotypes for Porites astreoides and Orbicella annularis. Four survey sites for both species P. astreoides has Site Q for maternal corals and their larvae, plus surrounding Conspecifics. Genotypes are the two alleles (1, 2) for each locus

The third sheet is “Maternal colonies and larvae”. These are the ID of each maternal colony and their collected larvae, the date collected, and the two alleles for each microsatellite locus.

The fourth sheet is “Q site sizes and location”. It has columns for the Porites astreoides colony ID, the longest diameter of the colony in cm, the perpendicular diameter, and the map coordinates in meters for each colony. Colonies Q_1 to Q_53 are not maternal colonies that occupied the same 1 m 2 area as the maternal colonies. Q_220 to Q_237 are the maternal colonies.

The fifth sheet is “Percent cover over time”. It has columns for the year of data collection, the taxon, the site the mean percent cover and the standard error for this mean.

Data for Fig. 4 A, B

These data describe the percentage cover of coral at Yawzi Point and Tektite from 1987-2022 as reported in Fig. 4A and B

Year = year of survey. Note surveys are reported for July 2017 (2017.07) and November 2017 (2017.11)

Taxon = genus, either Orbicella or Porites

Site = Tektite (14 m depth) or Yawzi Point (9 m depth) as in Fig. 1

Mean cover = mean percentage cover of coral as determined from 30 photoquadrats each year (each 1 x 1 m) evaluated for percent cover using 200 randomly located points, manually annotated

SE cover = standard error of percentage cover of coral as determined from 30 photoquadrats each year (each 1 x 1 m) evaluated for percent cover using 200 randomly located points, manually annotated

Full data catalogue: California State University Northridge and P. Edmunds. 2024. Virgin Islands National Park: Coral Reef: Population Dynamics: Scleractinian corals ver 4. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/8e113e2e776514dab1ed2947d6091b95 (Accessed 2024-11-22).

The sixth sheet is “Settlers and small corals”. It has columns for the year of data collection, the density of corals, the taxon and the life stage.

Data for Fig 4C

These data describe the total number of coral settlers and small corals on tiles and on the reef from 2015–2024 as reported in Fig. 4C

Year = Year data were collected with all data collected in July August

Density = number of corals counted per unit area, either per tile (all surfaces of tiles 15 x 15 x 1 cm) for settlers, or per quadrat (0.5 x 0.5m) for small corals

Taxon = family (settlers) or genus (small corals) of corals counted

Life stage = life stage of corals counted, either settlers (1-2 mm diameter corals on tiles) or small corals ≤ 4 cm diameter on reef surfaces

Note 1: settlers counted on settlement tiles deployed in clustes of 15 tiles (placed horizontally) at fives sites and submerged for ~ 12 months

Note 2: settlement tiles deployed at five sites as in Fig. 1: White Point, West Little Lameshur Bay, Yawzi Point, West Tektite, and Cabritte Horn, all at 5 m depth

Note 3: values reported for settlers are corals per tile, averaged among tiles within sites and then among sites

Note 4: small corals (colonies ≤ 4 cm diameter) surveyed in 0.5 x 0.5 m quadrats (n = 40) placed at random positions along a 40 m transect layed along the depth contour of permanently marked sites

Note 5: small corals surveyed at six sites as show in Fig. 1: White Point, Yawzi Point, Donkey Bite, West Tektite, East Tektite, Cabritte Horn

Note 6: values reported for small corals are corals per quadrat, averaged among quadrat with each site, then averaged among sites

The seventh sheet is “Number of small corals”. It has columns for the year of data collection, the number of small corals counted per year in surveys, the taxon and the life stage.

Data for Fig. 4D

These data describe the total number of small corals found on the reef from 2014–2024 as reported in Fig. 4D

Year = Year data were collected with all data collected in July August

Number = total number (summed across quadrats) of small corals (≤ 4 cm diameter) found on natural reef surfaces at 5-9 m depth on the south shore of St. John

Taxon = genus of corals counted

Life stage = life stage of corals counted, where small corals are living colonies ≤ 4 cm diameter

Note 1: surveys conducted in 0.5 x 0.5 m quadrats (n = 40) placed at random positions along a 40 m transect layed along the depth contour of permanently marked sites

Note 2: surveys completed at six sites as show in Fig. 1: White Point, Yawzi Point, Donkey Bite, West Tektite, East Tektite, Cabritte Horn

nd = no data