Title
Data from: Low recruitment due to altered settlement substrata as primary constraint for coral communities under ocean acidification
ORCID identifiers
Publication Date
8-2-2017
Description
The future of coral reefs under increasing CO2 depends on their capacity to recover from disturbances. To predict the recovery potential of coral communities that are fully acclimatized to elevated CO2, we compared the relative success of coral recruitment and later life stages at two volcanic CO2 seeps and adjacent control sites in Papua New Guinea. Our field experiments showed that the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on coral recruitment rates were up to an order of magnitude greater than the effects on the survival and growth of established corals. Settlement rates, recruit and juvenile densities were best predicted by the presence of crustose coralline algae, as opposed to the direct effects of seawater CO2. Offspring from high CO2 acclimatized parents had similarly impaired settlement rates as offspring from control parents. For most coral taxa, field data showed no evidence of cumulative and compounding detrimental effects of high CO2 on successive life stages, and three taxa showed improved adult performance at high CO2 that compensated for their low recruitment rates. Our data suggest that severely declining capacity for reefs to recover, due to altered settlement substrata and reduced coral recruitment, is likely to become a dominant mechanism of how OA will alter coral reefs.
Carbonate chemistry of the two study reefs - means over sites
Carbonate chemistry of the two study reefs - mean values per site at high CO2 at the CO2 seeps, and their adjacent control sites. a wq 2 reefs means over sites.csv
Carbonate chemistry of the two study reefs - means over tiles
Carbonate chemistry of the two study reefs - mean values for each of the settlement tiles. a wq 2 reefs means over tiles.csv
Settlement choice experiments
Choice of larvae of Acropora tenuis to settle on settlement substrata from either High-CO2 or Control sites. b1 choice expts14 final.csv
Settlement no-choice experiments
Settlement rates of Acropora tenuis larvae from parents originating from high CO2 or control sites. b2 no-choice expts 123.csv
Survival of A.tenuis recruits in field
Survival rates of A.tenuis recruits after returning into field settings at variable CO2 concentrations. b3 Survival A.tenuis recruits in field.csv
Substrata on settlement tiles
Substrata on settlement tiles including individual taxa of crustose coralline algae c tiles substrata indiv CCA.csv
Substrata on settlement tiles - summary variables
Substrata on settlement tiles - summary variables c tiles summary var.csv
Predictors of coral recruitment on settlement tiles
Predictors of densities of coral recruits on settlement tiles - summary variables d Tiles 2rf summary plots.csv
Predictors of coral recruit densities on settlement tiles
Predictors of coral recruit densities on settlement tiles from Dobu and Upa Upasina reefs d tiles abt 2rf.csv
Densities of coral juveniles
Densities of coral juveniles at Dobu and Upa Upasina CO2 seep and Control sites. e juv.2rf.csv
Log ratios of responses of coral life stages to elevated CO2
Log ratios of responses of various coral life stages to elevated CO2, from this study and the literature. e matrix9.csv
DOI Link
Repository Name
Dryad
Language
English
File Formats
CSV
Recommended Citation
Fabricius, Katharina E.; Noonan, Sam H. C.; Abrego, David; Harrington, Lindsay; and De'ath, Glenn, "Data from: Low recruitment due to altered settlement substrata as primary constraint for coral communities under ocean acidification" (2017). Datasets. 3.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/datasets/3
Data Availability
Open