2D and 3D coral models imaged in Curaçao: George, Mullinix, et al PeerJ 2021

Abstract from the article associated with the dataset: George, Mullinix, et al PeerJ 2021.

Reef-building corals are ecosystem engineers that compete with other benthic or- ganisms for space and resources. Corals harvest energy through their surface by photosynthesis and heterotrophic feeding, and they divert part of this energy to defend their outer colony perimeter against competitors. Here, we hypothesized that corals with a larger space-filling surface and smaller perimeters increase energy gain while reducing the exposure to competitors. This predicted an association between these two geometric properties of corals and the competitive outcome against other benthic organisms. To test the prediction, fifty coral colonies from the Caribbean island of Curac ̧ao were rendered using digital 3D and 2D reconstructions. The surface areas, perimeters, box-counting dimensions (as a proxy of space-filling property), and other geometric properties were extracted and analyzed with respect to t...

本数据集关联论文的摘要：George、Mullinix等人，发表于PeerJ 2021年。
造礁珊瑚（Reef-building corals）属于生态系统工程师类群，会与其他底栖生物争夺空间与资源。珊瑚通过体表进行光合作用与异养摄食获取能量，并将部分能量用于保卫群落外围以抵御竞争者。本研究提出假说：具备更大空间填充表面积与更小外围周长的珊瑚，可在降低自身暴露于竞争者风险的同时提升能量收益。据此可推测，珊瑚的这两项几何属性与其对抗其他底栖生物的竞争结果存在关联。为验证该推测，研究人员对取自加勒比海库拉索岛的50个珊瑚群落进行了数字化三维与二维重建建模。研究人员提取了表面积、外围周长、盒计维数（box-counting dimensions，作为空间填充属性的替代指标）及其他几何属性，并针对相关内容进行分析（原文此处存在截断）。