Coral Arks Metagenomes - Vieques
Microbial metagenomes from seafloor sites and midwater mesocosms offshore of Vieques, Puerto Rico. The goal was to compare coral outplanting (i.e., restoration) outcomes on the seafloor sites (replicating a traditional coral restoration paradigm) to midwater reef mesocosms called Coral Reef Arks that are intended to improve water quality and microbial conditions for translocated corals. Water samples were collected from both Arks and Seafloor sites every 3 months for one year (5 sampling events) to analyze the microbial community composition alongside other metrics of water quality and viral/microbial community health. Data was also collected for fish, corals, benthic cover, and water chemistry.