Data from: Collapsing ecosystem functions on an inshore coral reef

This dataset contains the data associated with the following publication: Tebbett SB, Morais RA, Goatley CHR, Bellwood DR (2021) Collapsing ecosystem functions on an inshore coral reef. Journal of Environmental Management 289: 112471 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112471

These data were used to examine changes in the functioning of the benthic algal turf community (in terms of its capacity to provide nutritional resources to herbivorous fishes) and herbivorous fish community (in terms of energy flow and productivity) across a >10 year timespan that was punctuated by a series of disturbances, namely a substantial increase in benthic sediment loads, at Orpheus Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The data underpinning our functional evaluation were based on underwater visual censuses (twelve 5-minute timed swims in 2018 as well as 2019) of the herbivorous fish community (all nominally herbivorous species in the families Acanthuridae, Siganidae and Labridae [Scarini]). In both 2018 and 2019 six algal turf particulate samples were taken at each of two sites per year (n = 12 samples per year). For each particulate sample algal turf length was recorded by measuring the length of 5 haphazardly selected algal turf filaments. These data were compared to equivalent data originally collected in 2013 and 2005/2006 (herbivorous fish data) as well as in 2013 and 2008 (benthic algal turf particulate data) and originally published in Goatley et al. (2016), Bonaldo and Bellwood (2011) and Fox and Bellwood (2007). This data publications contains: The raw herbivorous fish abundance data Algal turf length and accumulated sediment/particulate load data The functions for the benthic algal turfs The functions for the herbivorous fish community Details of the datasets including units of measure can be found in the 'read me' file.

For full methodological details, please see the published manuscript (referenced above).

References:

Bonaldo RM, Bellwood DR (2011) Spatial variation in the effects of grazing on epilithic algal turfs on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Coral Reefs 30:381–390

Fox RJ, Bellwood DR (2007) Quantifying herbivory across a coral reef depth gradient. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 339:49–59

Goatley CHR, Bonaldo RM, Fox RJ, Bellwood DR (2016) Sediments and herbivory as sensitive indicators of coral reef degradation. Ecol. Soc. 21: 29

    Data Record Details
    Data record related to this publication Sterling Tebbett PhD Thesis Data Chapters
    Data Publication title Data from: Collapsing ecosystem functions on an inshore coral reef
  • Description

    This dataset contains the data associated with the following publication: Tebbett SB, Morais RA, Goatley CHR, Bellwood DR (2021) Collapsing ecosystem functions on an inshore coral reef. Journal of Environmental Management 289: 112471 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112471

    These data were used to examine changes in the functioning of the benthic algal turf community (in terms of its capacity to provide nutritional resources to herbivorous fishes) and herbivorous fish community (in terms of energy flow and productivity) across a >10 year timespan that was punctuated by a series of disturbances, namely a substantial increase in benthic sediment loads, at Orpheus Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The data underpinning our functional evaluation were based on underwater visual censuses (twelve 5-minute timed swims in 2018 as well as 2019) of the herbivorous fish community (all nominally herbivorous species in the families Acanthuridae, Siganidae and Labridae [Scarini]). In both 2018 and 2019 six algal turf particulate samples were taken at each of two sites per year (n = 12 samples per year). For each particulate sample algal turf length was recorded by measuring the length of 5 haphazardly selected algal turf filaments. These data were compared to equivalent data originally collected in 2013 and 2005/2006 (herbivorous fish data) as well as in 2013 and 2008 (benthic algal turf particulate data) and originally published in Goatley et al. (2016), Bonaldo and Bellwood (2011) and Fox and Bellwood (2007). This data publications contains: The raw herbivorous fish abundance data Algal turf length and accumulated sediment/particulate load data The functions for the benthic algal turfs The functions for the herbivorous fish community Details of the datasets including units of measure can be found in the 'read me' file.

    For full methodological details, please see the published manuscript (referenced above).

    References:

    Bonaldo RM, Bellwood DR (2011) Spatial variation in the effects of grazing on epilithic algal turfs on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Coral Reefs 30:381–390

    Fox RJ, Bellwood DR (2007) Quantifying herbivory across a coral reef depth gradient. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 339:49–59

    Goatley CHR, Bonaldo RM, Fox RJ, Bellwood DR (2016) Sediments and herbivory as sensitive indicators of coral reef degradation. Ecol. Soc. 21: 29

  • Other Descriptors
    • Descriptor
    • Descriptor type
  • Data type dataset
  • Keywords
    • coral reef
    • algae
    • herbivorous fish
    • sediment
    • productivity
    • ecosystem function
    • ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
  • Funding source
  • Research grant(s)/Scheme name(s)
    • -
  • Research themes
    Tropical Ecosystems, Conservation and Climate Change
    People and Societies in the Tropics
    FoR Codes (*)
    SEO Codes
    Specify spatial or temporal setting of the data
    Temporal (time) coverage
  • Start Date 2005/01/01
  • End Date 2019/12/31
  • Time Period
    Spatial (location) coverage
  • Locations
    • Orpheus Island, northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia
    Data Locations

    Type Location Notes
    The Data Manager is: David Bellwood
    College or Centre College of Science & Engineering
    Access conditions Conditional: Contact researchdata@jcu.edu.au to request access to this data.
  • Alternative access conditions
  • Data record size 6 files: 43.2 KB
  • Related publications
      Name Tebbett, Sterling B., Morais, Renato A., Goatley, Christopher H.R., and Bellwood, David R. (2021) Collapsing ecosystem functions on an inshore coral reef. Journal of Environmental Management, 289. 112471.
    • URL https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112471
    • Notes
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    Select or add a licence for the data
    The data will be licensed under CC BY 4.0: Attribution 4.0 International
  • Other Licence
  • Statement of rights in data Once access to the data has been obtained via negotiation with the Data Manager, use of the dataset is governed by the CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  • Data owners
      Sterling Tebbett
    Citation Tebbett, Sterling; Morais, Renato; Goatley, Christopher; Bellwood, David (2021): Data from: Collapsing ecosystem functions on an inshore coral reef. James Cook University. https://doi.org/10.25903/as5q-yn02