This dataset consists of one MS Excel (.xlsx) file. This file contains site information (3 sites at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia), coral reef complexity metrics (elevation above lowest point in each site, and angle of sampled surface) and metrics associated with algal turf condition (algal turf length, particulate depth, particulate mass, inorganic sediment mass, organic particulate mass, proportion of particulates composed of organic particulates by mass, and grain size distribution of inorganic sediment by mass). Complexity metrics were calculated using digitial elevation models based on 3D photogrammetry of 36 m^2 areas of reef (following Streit et al. 2019). Algal turf metrics were collected using veneir callipers following Goatley and Bellwood 2013, and an underwater vacuum sampler (modified after Purcell 1996). Collected sediments were processed following Tebbett et al. 2018.
Literature cited:
Goatley, C. H. R., & Bellwood, D. R. (2013). Ecological consequences of sediment on high-energy coral reefs. PLoS ONE, 8, e77737. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077737
Purcell, S. W. (1996). A direct method for assessing sediment load in epilithic algal communities. Coral Reefs, 15, 211–213. doi:10.1007/BF01787453
Streit, R.P., Cumming, G., & Bellwood, D.R. (2019) Patchy delivery of functions undermines functional redundancy in a high diversity system. Functional Ecology, doi: 0.1111/1365-2435.13322
Tebbett, S. B., Goatley, C. H. R., & Bellwood, D. R. (2018). Algal turf sediments across the Great Barrier Reef: Putting coastal reefs in perspective. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 137, 518-525. 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.10.056