DOI: 10.5061/dryad.xwdbrv1hw
title: Data from: Energy acquisition and allocation strategies in scleractinian corals: Insights from intraspecific trait variability

description: Scleractinian species consist of physiologically heterogeneous individuals
 that can opportunistically use different resources. Yet, intraspecific
 variability has often been overlooked in trait-based ecology, assuming
 uniformity among conspecifics. This study assessed individual
 contributions to physiological proxies in energy acquisition and
 allocation of seven scleractinian species collected from various latitudes
 and depths and characterised collective strategies (i.e. groups of
 individuals with similar physiological performance). An individual
 trait-based approach using 15 skeletal, isotopic, and organismal traits
 was used to describe and compare variation within and between species
 physiological niches. The effect of temperature and light on the observed
 variation was tested, and a k-means analysis was used to characterise the
 optimal number of strategies among individuals. Significant differences
 were observed among species with physiological niches displaying large
 variation. This variation was partially attributed to the selected
 environmental factors for two branching species but had a minor influence
 on the variation among other species. Among all individuals, three
 strategies were identified, with conspecifics exhibiting two or all three
 strategies. These results demonstrated that individuals from various
 species may converge in the use of their resources and that species may
 stand along a gradient between two extremes: conspecifics displaying one
 (specialists) or several strategies (generalists). This methodology, which
 focuses on intraspecific variability, provides valuable insights into
 resource use and a tool for future investigations on individual
 performances in populations. Furthermore, this approach can be extended to
 other benthic taxa, allowing for a comprehensive assessment of ecosystem
 processes and ongoing changes in Anthropocene coral reefs.
description: A detailed description of data acquisition and processing can be
 found in the published manuscript in Coral Reefs<br>(https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-025-02617).
description: # Data from: Energy acquisition and allocation strategies in scleractinian
 corals: insights from intraspecific trait variability --- This README.txt
 file was generated on 2025-01-22 by Stéphane De Palmas
 [depalmasstephane@gmail.com](mailto:%20depalmasstephane@gmail.com) 1.
 **Author Information** * First author * Name: De Palmas, Stéphane *
 Institution 1: Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University,
 Taipei 10617, Taiwan * Institution 2: Faculty of Science, University of
 the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan * Second author * Name: Chen, Qi *
 Institution: Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei
 10617, Taiwan * Third author * Name: Guerbet, Arnaud * Institution:
 Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617,
 Taiwan * Fourth author * Name: Hsieh, Yunli Eric * Institution: Institute
 of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan * Fifth
 author * Name: Hsu, Tsai-Hsuan Tony * Institution: Institute of
 Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan * Sixth
 author * Name: Lin, Yuting Vicky * Institution: Institute of Oceanography,
 National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan * Seventh author * Name:
 Sturaro, Nicolas * Institution: Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan
 University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan * Eighth author * Name: Wang, Pei-Ling *
 Institution: Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei
 10617, Taiwan * Ninth & corresponding author * Name: Denis, Vianney *
 Institution: Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei
 10617, Taiwan * Email:
 [vianneydenis@ntu.edu.tw](mailto:vianneydenis@ntu.edu.tw) 2. **Date of
 data collection**: 2017 3. **Geographic location of data collection**:
 Taiwan, West Pacific 4. **Funding sources that supported the collection of
 the data**: National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), National
 Taiwan University 5. **Recommended citation for this dataset** De Palmas
 S, Chen Q, Guerbet A, Hsieh YE, Hsu THT, Lin YV, Sturaro N, Wang PL, Denis
 V (2025) Data from: Energy acquisition and allocation strategies in
 scleractinian corals: insights from intraspecific trait variability,
 Dryad, Dataset,
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xwdbrv1hw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xwdbrv1hw) \[Dataset is available in [Dryad](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xwdbrv1hw). The data set and the R script are also available through the GitHub repository [https://github.com/NTU-FRELab/performance-scleractinians.git](https://github.com/NTU-FRELab/performance-scleractinians.git) in order to replicate our analyses] ## DESCRIPTION OF THE DATA AND FILE STRUCTURE ### DATA & FILE OVERVIEW 1. **Description of dataset** These data were generated to investigate scleractinian coral strategies in energy acquisition and allocation in the light of intraspecific variation. 2. **File List** File 1: DePalmas_dataset_strategy_data.csv: Excel file containing coral trait information for 7 species and environmental information prior to collection. ### METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION A detailed description of data acquisition and processing can be found in the published manuscript in Coral Reefs ([https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-025-02617-w](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-025-02617-w)). #### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION ##### **DePalmas\_dataset\_strategy\_data.csv** 1. Number of variables/columns: 75 2. Number of cases/rows: 197 3. Missing data codes: NA 4. Variable List: * column A - codeP * column B - date * column C - spe * column D - sp_check * column E - region * column F - site * column G - depth * column H - season * column I - P * column J - I * column K - Volume * column L - Weight * column M - Surface * column N - Vi * column O - V.bio * column P - W.fil * column Q - W.fil.tis * column R - W.fil.tis.bur * columns S to X - countS.1,countS.2, countS.3, countS.4, countS.5, countS.6 * columns Y to AD - countC.1, countC.2, countC.3, countC.4, countC.5, countC.6 * column AE - V.chl.slurry * column AF - V.extraction.T * column AG - V.extraction.S * columns AH to AK - A750T, A664T, A647T, A630T * columns AL to AO - A750S, A664S, A647S, A630S * column AP - SDS1V * column AQ - V.prot.slurry * column AR - STC * column AS to AW - STCX4, STCX3, STCX2, STCX1, STCE * column AX - abs.prot.blank * column AY to BA - abs.prot.zoox1, abs.prot.zoox2, abs.prot.zoox3 * column BB to BD - abs.prot.host1, abs.prot.host2, abs.prot.host3 * column BE - STC-2(for host) * column BF to BJ - STCX4b, STCX3b, STCX2b, STCX1b, STCEb * column BK - abs.prot.blank.b * column BL to BO - Hdelta15N, Hdelta13C, Zdelta15N, Zdelta13C * column BP to BS - H_N%, H_C%, Z_N%, Z_C% * column BT to BW - SST_mean, SST_sd, light_mean, light_sd 5. Descriptions: The description of each variables are as below: * codeP - sample identification code * date - sampling date * spe - species name * sp_check - species identity checked under dissecting microscope (0: no, 1: yes) * region - region where specimens were collected (NT: North Taiwan, GI: Green Island) * site - name of the locality where specimens were collected * depth - depth at which specimens were collected in meter * season - season when the specimens were collected * P - physiological investigations (0: no, 1: yes) * I - isotopic investigations (0: no, 1: yes) * Volume - volume of the skeletal fragment in cubic millimeter * Weight - weight of the skeletal fragment in grams * Surface - surface of the skeletal fragment in square millimeter * Vi - Initial volume of slurry in milliliter * V.bio - volume from Vi used for biomass measurements in milliliter * W.fil - weight of the filter used for biomass calculation in gram * W.fil.tis - weight of the filter with addition of the slurry in gram * W.fil.tis.bur - weight of the burned filter after addition of the slurry in gram * countS.1, countS.2, countS.3, countS.4, countS.5, countS.6 - 6 replicates of Symbiodiniaceae counting * countC.1, countC.2, countC.3, countC.4, countC.5, countC.6 - 6 replicates of cnidocytes counting * V.chl.slurry - volume from Vi used for chlorophyll measurements in milliliter * V.extraction.T - final volume of chlorophyll extraction for tissue in milliliter * V.extraction.S - final volume of chlorophyll extraction for skeleton in milliliter * A750T, A664T, A647T, A630T - wavelengths reading on spectrophotometer for tissue * A750S, A664S, A647S, A630S - wavelengths reading on spectrophotometer for skeleton * SDS1V - volume from the Symbiodiniaceae pellet resuspended and used for protein measurements in milliliter * V.prot.slurry - volume from Vi used to isolate animal tissue for protein measurements in milliliter * STC - date of preparation of the plate for protein measurements * STCX4, STCX3, STCX2, STCX1, STCE - Polynomial coefficients for assessing protein concentration * abs.prot.blank - absorption reading on the blank used for correction * abs.prot.zoox1, abs.prot.zoox2, abs.prot.zoox3 - absorbance reading on Symbiodiniaceae protein triplicates * abs.prot.host1, abs.prot.host2, abs.prot.host3 - absorbance reading on host protein triplicates * STC-2(for host) - date of preparation of the plate for protein measurements (when Symbiodiniaceae and host protein were not measured simultaneously) * STCX4b, STCX3b, STCX2b, STCX1b, STCEb - Polynomial coefficients for assessing protein concentration * abs.prot.blank.b - absorption reading on the blank used for correction * Hdelta15N, Hdelta13C, Zdelta15N, Zdelta13C - carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios for host and zooxanthellae (H stands for host and Z stands for zooxanthellae) * H_N%, H_C%, Z_N%, Z_C% - Nitrogen and carbon mass for host and Symbiodiniaceae used for C:N ratio calculation * SST_mean, SST_sd, light_mean, light_sd - Sea surface temperature mean and standard deviation (in degree Celsius), light mean and standard deviation(Kd490, light attenuation coefficent per meter). All environmental parameters were calculated based on one month of data prior to the day of collection. 6. **Other relevant information**: * Host protein was measured with a different curve and blank (host and Symbiodiniaceae on different plates) for 13 specimens (the 13 first specimens). Columns BD to BK have information for these 13 specimens. * NAs values in countS.6 and countC.6 - for a few specimens, Symbiodiniaceae and cnidocyte counts were average based on 5 measurements instead of 6. * NAs values in abs.prot.zoox and abs.prot.host - no reading on the spectrophotometer (most specimens have 2 readings). * NAs values for absorbance data (columns BD to BK) - host and Symbiodiniaceae protein absorbance were measured with the same blank for most specimens except the first 13 ones. * NAs in isotopic data (columns BP to BS) - for a few specimens there was not enough material to investigate isotopic ratio.