Seawater carbonate chemistry and net community calcification (NCC) and net community production (NCP) rates of individual taxa and combined reef communities

• Main Authors: Silbiger, N J, Nelson, Craig E, Remple, Kristina, Sevilla, Jessica K, Quinlan, Zachary A, Putnam, H M, Fox, M D, Donahue, M J
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2018
• Subjects: Animalia; Benthos; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria <20 L; Calcification/Dissolution; Cnidaria; Coast and continental shelf; Entire community; Gracillaria salicornia; Laboratory experiment; Macroalgae; Macro-nutrients; Montipora capitata; North Pacific; Plantae; Porites compressa; Primary production/Photosynthesis; Rhodophyta; Rocky-shore community; Single species; Tropical; Type; Aquarium number; DATE/TIME; Identification; Experiment; Substrate type; Treatment; Salinity; Alkalinity, total; Temperature, water; pH; Phosphate; Nitrate and Nitrite; Silicate; Carbon dioxide; Bicarbonate ion; Carbonate ion; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Aragonite saturation state; Calcite saturation state; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Fugacity of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Residence time; Flow rate; Surface area; Ash free dry mass; Dry mass; Volume; Light mode; Net calcification rate of calcium carbonate; Net primary production of oxygen; Respiration rate, oxygen; Gross primary production of oxygen; Carbonate system computation flag; Potentiometric titration; Potentiometric; Calculated using seacarb; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. 2010; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre OA-ICC; Pacific; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.924534; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.924534

There is a long history of examining the impacts of nutrient pollution and pH on coral reefs. However, little is known about how these two stressors interact and influence coral reef ecosystem functioning. Using a six-week nutrient addition experiment, we measured the impact of elevated nitrate (NO−3) and phosphate (PO3−4) on net community calcification (NCC) and net community production (NCP) rates of individual taxa and combined reef communities. Our study had four major outcomes: (i) NCC rates declined in response to nutrient addition in all substrate types, (ii) the mixed community switched from net calcification to net dissolution under medium and high nutrient conditions, (iii) nutrients augmented pH variability through modified photosynthesis and respiration rates, and (iv) nutrients disrupted the relationship between NCC and aragonite saturation state documented in ambient conditions. These results indicate that the negative effect of NO−3 and PO3−4 addition on reef calcification is likely both a direct physiological response to nutrients and also an indirect response to a shifting pH environment from altered NCP rates. Here, we show that nutrient pollution could make reefs more vulnerable to global changes associated with ocean acidification and accelerate the predicted shift from net accretion to net erosion. : In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Gattuso et al, 2020) 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 by seacarb is 2020-10-30.