Acropora cervicornis Data Coordination Hub, an open access database for evaluating genet performance

Abstract

Once one of the predominant reef-building corals in the region, Acropora cervicornis is now a focal species of coral restoration efforts in Florida and the western Caribbean. Scientists and restoration practitioners have been independently collecting phenotypic data on genets of A. cervicornis grown in restoration nurseries. While these data are important for understanding the intraspecific response to varying environmental conditions, and thus the potential genetic contribution to phenotypic variation, in isolation these observations are of limited use for large-scale, multi-institution restoration efforts that are becoming increasingly necessary. Here, we present the Acropora cervicornis Data Coordination Hub, a web-accessible relational database to align disparate datasets to compare genet-specific performance. In this data descriptor, we release data for 248 genets evaluated across 38 separate traits. We present a framework to align datasets with the goal of facilitating informed, data-driven restoration throughout the Caribbean.