Changes in coral reef communities across a natural gradient in seawater pH ...

• Main Authors: Barkley, Hannah C, Cohen, Anne L, Golbuu, Yimnang, Starczak, V R, DeCarlo, Thomas M, Shamberger, K E F
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2015
• Subjects: Benthos; Biomass/Abundance/Elemental composition; Calcification/Dissolution; Coast and continental shelf; Community composition and diversity; Entire community; Field observation; Rocky-shore community; South Pacific; Tropical; Site; LATITUDE; LONGITUDE; Aragonite saturation state; Aragonite saturation state, standard error; Corals, cover; Corals, cover, standard error; Species richness; Species richness, standard error; Diversity; Diversity, standard error; Evenness of species; Evenness of species, standard error; Coverage; Coverage, standard error; Extension rate; Extension rate, standard error; Density; Density, standard error; Calcification rate of calcium carbonate; Calcification rate, standard error; Percentage; Percentage, standard error; Temperature, water; Temperature, water, standard error; Salinity; Salinity, standard error; Nitrate and Nitrite; Nitrate and Nitrite, standard error; Ammonium; Ammonium, standard error; Phosphate; Phosphate, standard error; Alkalinity, total; Alkalinity, total, standard error; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved, standard error; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air, standard error; Carbonate ion; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.849300; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.849300

Ocean acidification threatens the survival of coral reef ecosystems worldwide. The negative effects of ocean acidification observed in many laboratory experiments have been seen in studies of naturally low-pH reefs, with little evidence to date for adaptation. Recently, we reported initial data suggesting that low-pH coral communities of the Palau Rock Islands appear healthy despite the extreme conditions in which they live. Here, we build on that observation with a comprehensive statistical analysis of benthic communities across Palau's natural acidification gradient. Our analysis revealed a shift in coral community composition but no impact of acidification on coral richness, coralline algae abundance, macroalgae cover, coral calcification, or skeletal density. However, coral bioerosion increased 11-fold as pH decreased from the barrier reefs to the Rock Island bays. Indeed, a comparison of the naturally low-pH coral reef systems studied so far revealed increased bioerosion to be the only consistent ... : In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Gattuso et al, 2015) was used to compute a complete and consistent set of carbonate system variables, as described by Nisumaa et al. (2010). In this dataset the original values were archived in addition with the recalculated parameters (see related PI). The date of carbonate chemistry calculation is 2015-09-09. ...