Data from: Impacts of heat stress and storm events on the benthic communities of Kenting National Park (Taiwan)
1Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan,
2Taiwan International Graduate Program-Biodiversity, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan,
3Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan,
4Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,
5Department of Marine Environment and Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan,
6Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
This repository contains the dataset used in the study published in PeerJ titled "Impacts of heat stress and storm events on the benthic communities of Kenting National Park (Taiwan)". The research documents the responses of benthic communities throughout Kenting National Park (KNP) during the 2015–2016 El Niño event. The study involved five temporal surveys conducted before and after the El Niño event, during which Taiwan experienced the direct impact of five typhoons.
1. Supplementary File S1 - Data Sheet 1 | In situ seawater temperature and DHW
- Data file containing daily SST (min, max, mean) at 3 surveyed sites, local calculation of DHW at the 3 sites and from NOAA for the South Taiwan virtual station from 8/2/2015 to 4/26/2017.
2. Supplementary File S2- Data Sheet 2 | Benthic communities raw
- Data file containing the benthic composition for the 11 surveyed sites and the 5 survey from 2015 to 2017, in point count.
3. Supplementary File S3 - PDF | Supplementary Tables from the published paper
- PDF file containing source of environmental dataset used in the paper, benthic composition at major caterogies level, Scleractinian covers at morphology level (branching, encrusting, foliose, massive, an tabulate), Proportion of bleached cover per OTU, for each region.
4. Additionnal Supplementary File - Data Sheet 4 | Mean bleaching percentage (SD) per site
- Data file containing the mean (SD) bleaching percentage per OTU, for each site. x indicates that the OTU was not observed during the survey.Eleven sites across the different regions of Kenting National Park were selected: three on the west coast, three on the east coast, and five in the bay of Nanwan. Biotic surveys were conducted at a depth of 5 meters across these sites during five assessments between 2015 and 2017. However, weather conditions prevented surveys on both east and west coasts in October 2016 and on the east coast in September 2016.
Benthic communities were surveyed using five 20-meter-long photo-transects at each site during each assessment. A total of 105 photographs (0.5 m x 0.5 m) were captured at each site during each survey. The photographs were analyzed using CPCe v4.0 software, with 50 random points overlaid on each picture to identify benthic organisms using 133 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs). Scleractinian corals, algae, and octocorals were identified at the genus level and categorized into morpho-functional groups. The data was later summarized into 14 major categories, including Symbiodiniaceae-associated organisms, with observations on bleaching potential. A total of 104 OTUs were identified as being associated with Symbiodiniaceae with bleaching potential, providing insights into the extent of the bleaching event at the regional scale.
If you find this dataset or methodology useful, please cite the associated paper:
Ribas-Deulofeu L, Denis V, Château P, Chen CA. Impacts of heat stress and storm events on the benthic communities of Kenting National Park (Taiwan) PeerJ 9:e11744. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.11744.
These datasets are available under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CCBY). The use, distribution, or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original authors and that the original publication is cited, per accepted academic practice.