Sampling information and presence/absence of stress bands (in 1998 and 2010) in Porites cf. lobata coral at Palau's Rock Islands

Ocean warming is killing corals, but heat-tolerant populations exist; if protected, they could replenish affected reefs naturally or through restoration. Palau's Rock Islands experience consistently higher temperatures and extreme heatwaves, yet their diverse coral communities bleach less than those on Palau's cooler outer reefs. Here, we combined genetic analyses, bleaching histories, and growth rates of Porites cf. lobata colonies to identify thermally tolerant genotypes, map their distribution, and investigate potential growth trade-offs. We identified four genetic lineages of P. cf. lobata. On Palau's outer reefs, a thermally sensitive lineage dominates. The Rock Islands harbor two lineages with enhanced thermal tolerance; one of which shows no consistent growth trade-off and also occurs on several outer reefs. This suggests that the Rock Islands provide naturally tolerant larvae to neighboring areas. Finding and protecting such sources of thermally-tolerant corals is key to reef survival under 21st century climate change. This dataset contains sampling location information for each sample, depth, and diameter of colonies, and presence/absence of stress bands in 1998 and 2010.

海洋变暖正导致珊瑚大量死亡，但自然界中存在耐热珊瑚种群；若对这些种群加以保护，它们可通过自然增殖或人工修复的方式，助力受影响珊瑚礁的恢复。帕劳洛克群岛海域常年水温偏高且易遭遇极端热浪，但其多样的珊瑚群落白化程度却显著低于帕劳水温较低的外礁海域。本研究结合对拟叶状多孔珊瑚（Porites cf. lobata）群落的遗传分析、白化历史记录与生长速率测定，旨在鉴定耐热基因型、绘制其分布图谱，并探究潜在的生长权衡效应。本研究共鉴定出拟叶状多孔珊瑚的4个遗传谱系。帕劳外礁海域以1个热敏性遗传谱系为主导。洛克群岛海域则拥有2个耐热性增强的遗传谱系；其中1个谱系未表现出稳定的生长权衡效应，且同时分布于多处外礁海域。这表明洛克群岛可向邻近海域自然输出耐热珊瑚幼体。在21世纪气候变化的背景下，发现并保护这类耐热珊瑚种群源，是维持珊瑚礁存续的关键所在。本数据集包含所有采样样本的采样位置信息、珊瑚群落的水深与直径数据，以及1998年和2010年的胁迫带存在/缺失情况记录。