This data set contains data from visual surveys by snorkelers using handheld GPS units to map extant live colonies of the threatened corals Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis in the upper Florida Keys. Appropriate habitat strata were targeted and prioritized from habitat maps in 2005. An initial survey was conducted in 2005-2007 of these reef areas. Follow-up surveys are being conducted in 2013-2015 to assess potential substantial changes in distribution and/or abundance in the same reef areas.

This dataset collection consists of yearly spreadsheets containing the corals outplanted from 2020-2023 and the survivorship over time, including but not limited to species Acropora cervicornis, Acropora palmata, Orbicella faveolata, Pseudodiploria clivosa and Montastraea cavernosa. These corals were outplanted by Mote Marine Laboratory, from 2020-01-01 to 2023-12-31 located in the Florida Keys. Mote Marine Laboratory continues to monitor each outplant one month post-outplant event, one year, three year and five years to monitor the survivorship of corals over time.

To maximize long term (>10yr) survival of nursery raised Acropora cervicornis corals, a map based tool was created that ranks locations in the Florida Acropora Critical Habitat based on climate vulnerability. Climate vulnerability is defined both in terms of exposure to future heat stress and the coral's sensitivity as resilience. Suitable sites are determined by a number of factors, suitable sites must be within the Acropora critical habitat and within the depth range 5-15m, with either hard bottom or coral present. Those possible locations are ranked based on projected climate change impacts and a resilience metric based on seven different indicators: coral cover, macroalgae cover, bleaching resistance, coral diversity, coral disease, herbivore biomass, and temperature variability. The data is presented as a Google Earth tool (zipped), maps, gridded netCDF files and are accompanied by a guidance document and a .csv file ranking all locations. The Google Earth tool contains five major layers: depth, turbidity, resilience, year of annual severe bleaching, and outplanting score. Bleaching projections included here use climate model data from 2006-2099.

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 kilometers of the Florida reef tract to aid species recovery throughout the western Atlantic. The datasets included here were interpreted in Kuffner and others (2020). Kuffner, I.B., Stathakopoulos, A., Toth, L.T., and Bartlett, L.A. In press. Reestablishing a stepping-stone population of the threatened coral, Acropora palmata, to aid regional recovery. Endangered Species Research.

This data release contains time-series photographs taken of corals and coral habitats in the Florida Keys between 1959 and 2015 at Carysfort Reef and Grecian Rocks (a total of six sites). The original intent was to show coral reef recovery after Hurricane Donna devastated the area in 1960. Corals, especially elkhorn and staghorn coral, grew prolifically after the storm until the late 1970s, then began to decline, with the maximum period of decline centered around 1983 and 1984. These time-series photographs, showing the same individual coral colonies year after year, document the decline in coral health observed at these locations, mirroring patterns seen region-wide across the western Atlantic. A selection of the photographs was previously published (in low resolution) in Lidz and others (2006), wherein findings and conclusions related to these data were discussed. Lidz, B. H., Reich, C. D., Peterson, R. L., and Shinn, E. A. (2006). New maps, new information: Coral reefs of the Florida Keys. Journal of Coastal Research, 22(2), 260-282, https://doi.org/10.2112/05A-0023.1