This dataset comprises water temperature data collected through subsurface temperature recorders (STRs) for monitoring seawater temperature variability at permanent coral reef sites in American Samoa. Deployed as part of the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP), these high-accuracy temperature loggers, manufactured by SeaBird Electronics (SBE), operate at depths of 0 to 30 meters along depth transects at Ocean and Climate Change monitoring survey sites for 3 years. Recovered STRs are replaced with new deployments in the same location.
The ability of corals to adapt to climate change relies on the existing genetic variation for climate-related resistance. By genotyping 15,399 single nucleotide polymorphisms in Acropora hyacinthus corals within a naturally variable temperature environment, 114 highly divergent SNPs were identified as potential candidates for environmental selection, indicating the presence of alleles preadapted to high temperatures in the population.