Seawater microbiome responses to copper across reef environments

Created 23/01/2026

Updated 23/01/2026

This data collection consists of water quality measurements, nutrient data and measured copper concentrations associated with experiments that derived site-specific guidline values (GVs) for tropical seawater microbiomes by integrating 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with quantitative microbiome profiling and concentration-response modelling. Seawater was collected during high tide at three target sites adjacent to the Burdekin region of the Great Barrier Reef, representing varying disturbance histories: (1) Davies Reef, a high ecological value (HEV) coral reef reference site (S 18°49.826’ E 147°38.177’) situated 50 km offshore with low levels of human impacts and part of the Marine Protected Area; (2) Magnetic Island, a slightly to moderately disturbed (SD-MD) inshore coral/algal reef site (S 19°09.279’ E 146°52.108’) with some perturbations from shipping traffic, dredging, industry, and agricultural runoff; (3) Townsville Breakwater in close proximity to the Port of Townsville, a highly disturbed (HD) inshore site (S 19°14.629’ E 146°49.989’) with increased influence from shipping traffic, industry, and urban runoff. Seawater from each site was subsequently used in a 48-h copper exposure experiment. Water quality measurements (dissolved oxygen, pH and salinity) and water samples for nutrients (dissolved organic / inorganic carbon and nitrogen) were taken at 0-h and 48-h, following standard AIMS procedures. Representative water samples from the nominal experimental treatments (0, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, 10, 30, 60, 100, 300, 1000, 3000, 8000 μg Cu L-1) were sent to Envirolab for dissolved copper quantification. Data was entered into excel.

Files and APIs

Additional Info

Field Value
Title Seawater microbiome responses to copper across reef environments
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/731767bf-07cb-438a-9d9e-35410b1c8f26
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
reception@aims.gov.au
Reference Period 09/12/2025
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    146.82497978210452,
    -19.233444421187667
  ],
  "type": "Point"
}
Data Portal data.gov.au

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on data.gov.au "Seawater microbiome responses to copper across reef environments". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/seawater-microbiome-responses-to-copper-across-reef-environments