Experimental coral-growth data and time-series imagery for Acropora palmata in the Florida Keys, U.S.A.

The USGS Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. This data release contains data on coral-growth rates and time-series photographs taken of colonies of the elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, grown at five sites on the Florida Keys reef tract from spring 2018 to autumn 2019. The data will be used to inform resource managers of the capacity for restoration and growth of this threatened species of coral along 350 km of the Florida reef tract to aid species recovery throughout the western Atlantic. The datasets included here were interpreted in Kuffner and others (in press). Kuffner, I.B., Stathakopoulos, A., Toth, L.T., and Bartlett, L.A., 2020, Reestablishing a stepping-stone population of the threatened elkhorn coral Acropora palmata to aid regional recovery: Endangered Species Research v. 43, p. 461-473, https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01083.