The dataset include ingestion data of microplastics by four Atlantic coral species. Ingestion data are reported as proportions from 0-1 from microplastics offered to each coral fragment. Additionally, the dataset include calyx measurements from all coral species. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Hankins, C., S. Raimondo, and D. Lasseigne. Microplastic ingestion by coral as a function of the interaction between calyx and microplastic size.. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier BV, AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, 810: 152333, (2022).

Data is for three experiments. The first experiment examined calcification effects of ingested microbeads. The second experiment observed ingestion rates of four size classes of microbeads and how long they were retained. The third experiment observed and compared ingestion rates of one microbead size class and microfibers 3-5mm in length. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Hankins, C., A. Duffy, and K. Drisco. Scleractinian coral microplastic ingestion: Potential calcification effects, size limits, and retention. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, USA, 135: 587-593, (2018).

This published research assesses microplastic ingestion and retention by coral reef fish, which are important information to assess ecological risks of this emergent contaminant to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR, Australia). Fish were collected with SCUBA and nets at Lizard Island (North GBR), exposed to microplastics under laboratory conditions at Lizard Island Research Station, and processed (i.e., gastrointestinal tract chemically digested, filtered and analysed under microscope) to assess microplastic ingestion at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in Townsville (Queensland, Australia). Data was statistically analysed using general linear model in R, kinetics model, one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s multiple comparisons tests.

The data provided information on site collection such as GPS coordinates and depth for coral and water samples collected in the field. Data also provides measurement of coral tissue surface area of corals sampled for the field needed to standardize data. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Hankins, C., D. Lasseigne, S. Davis, K. Edwards, and J. Paul. Coral reef attributes associated with microplastic exposure. CORAL REEFS. Springer, New York, NY, USA, 44(1): 193-207, (2024).

This dataset contains microplastics (MPs, 1 µm-5 mm) enumerated from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of bottlenose dolphins stranded in South Carolina, USA from 2017-2018 (initial study), and from stranded bottlenose dolphins (South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama), harbor porpoises (Maine and Washington), and a long-beaked common dolphin (Washington) from 2013-2019 (second study). Microplastics were counted in the GIT and were categorized by microplastic type and color. Individual dolphins and porpoises total length, sex, and stomach weight data are also included.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps Department of Interior and other 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, and the symmetrical brain coral, Pseudodiploria strigosa, grown at three sites at Buck Island Reef National Monument in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands from June 2019 to August 2021. The data will be used to inform resource managers of the capacity for restoration and growth of these habitat-forming species of coral within National Park (and Virgin Islands territory) waters.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps Department of Interior and other 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, and the symmetrical brain coral, Pseudodiploria strigosa, grown at three sites at Buck Island Reef National Monument in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands from June 2019 to August 2021. The data will be used to inform resource managers of the capacity for restoration and growth of these habitat-forming species of coral within National Park (and Virgin Islands territory) waters.

These are the raw data associated with the manuscript, "Quantification of microplastics in sediments from Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island USA using a novel isolation and extraction method" All raw data also appears within supplementary materials of this publication. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Cashman, M., T. Langknecht, D. El Khatib, R. Burgess, T. Boving, S. Robinson, and K. Ho. Quantification of microplastics in sediments from Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island USA using a novel isolation and extraction method. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, USA, 174: 113254, (2022).

Microplastics are considered a marine contaminant of emerging concern and to accurately assess the ecological risk of microplastics, it is critical to understand the levels of contamination and relationship between organisms and their surrounding envrionment. The aim of this study was to understand the ecological risk of microplastics on coral reef organisms by assessing taxa representing three trophic levels in the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR). This included zooplankton, benthic crustaceans and reef fish, as well as environmental matrices they inhabit (i.e., mid-column seawater and benthic sediment) from two mid-shelf reef locations (i.e., Davies and Backnumbers) in the central GBR. Contamination was assessed following rigorous protocols and analysed to determine levels of microplastics in each matrix. Microplastics were found in all matrices investigated, with similar polymers, sizes, colours and shapes across all trophic levels and environmental matrices. In contrast, contamination varied up the trophic level, and although microplastics were concentrating in organisms, there was no evidence for microplastics magnifying up the food web. However, given the heterogeneity of microplastics abundant within the marine environment, it is impossible to ignore trophic transfer as a prominant pathway of exposure from lower to higher trophic levels.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps Department of Interior and other resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. This data release contains data on coral physiology of the elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, grown at five sites along the Florida outer reef tract including in Biscayne National Park, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and Dry Tortugas National Park, from summer 2017 to autumn 2020. The data will be used to inform resource managers of the capacity for restoration and growth of this important, habitat-forming species of coral within U.S. waters. Some datasets included here were interpreted in Chapron and others (2023b). Chapron, L., Kuffner, I.B., Kemp, D.W., Hulver, A.M., Keister, E.F., Stathakopoulos, A., Bartlett, L.A., Lyons, E.O., and Grottoli, A.G., 2023, Heterotrophy, microbiome, and location effects on restoration efficacy of the threatened coral Acropora palmata: Communications Earth and Environment, vol. 4, art. 233, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00888-1.