Dataset: Predator size and abundance data from oyster reefs in a northeast Florida estuary collected between April and August 2019 as part of an oyster reciprocal transplant experiment

A reciprocal transplant experiment was conducted at two sites in an estuary in NE Florida, USA that encompassed different environmental (salinity, aerial exposure) and biotic (predators) stressors.  Juvenile oysters were reciprocally transplanted within and between the two locations. At each location, the home and away oyster ‘demes’ were randomly assigned between a predator exclosure and a control treatment. 

Predation risk was estimated by surveying three reefs within each site (Butler or Pellicer) for residential predators, which consist of mud crabs (Panopeus herbstii) and crown conchs (Melongena Corona). In May 2019, the length of reef length was estimated by deploying a transect along the crest of the reef. For each reef, that transect was then partitioned into six intervals. In the center of each interval, a second transect was deployed from the reef crest to the seaward edge of the reef to estimate reef width. At the midpoint of the reef width within each interval, we deployed a 1 × 1 m quadrat and searched for all mud crabs and crown conchs within each quadrat (n = 6 quadrats per reef). Carapace widths of all mud crabs were measured to estimate crab size, while distance from siphon to pointed end of shell was used to estimate conch size. Because crown conchs are concentrated on the seaward edge of the reef at low tide, we also placed the quadrat at the seaward edge of each of the reef intervals to count and measure size of crown conchs, which resulted in 12 quadrat samples per reef with half from the interior (as described above) and half from the reef edge (designated as conch.low).