Seawater carbonate chemistry and recruitment and succession in a tropical benthic community

• Main Authors: Crook, Elizabeth Derse, Kroeker, Kristy J, Potts, Donald C, Rebolledo-Vieyra, Mario, Hernandez-Terrones, Laura M, Paytan, Adina
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2016
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; standard error; Aragonite saturation state; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Biomass/Abundance/Elemental composition; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Coast and continental shelf; Community composition and diversity; Coulometric titration; Coverage; Diameter; Duration; Entire community; Event label; EXP; Experiment; Field observation; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Group; Growth/Morphology; LATITUDE; LONGITUDE; Nitrate; North Atlantic; Number; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Ojo_Gorgos; Ojo_Laja; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.881171; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.881171

Ocean acidification is a pervasive threat to coral reef ecosystems, and our understanding of the ecological processes driving patterns in tropical benthic community development in conditions of acidification is limited. We deployed limestone recruitment tiles in low aragonite saturation (Omega arag) waters during an in-situ field experiment at Puerto Morelos, Mexico, and compared them to tiles placed in control zones over a 14-month investigation. The early stages of succession showed relatively little difference in coverage of calcifying organisms between the low Omega arag and control zones. However, after 14 months of development, tiles from the low Omega arag zones had up to 70% less cover of calcifying organisms coincident with 42% more fleshy algae than the controls. The percent cover of biofilm and turf algae was also significantly greater in the low Omega arag zones, while the number of key grazing taxa remained constant. We hypothesize that fleshy algae have a competitive edge over the primary calcified space holders, coralline algae, and that acidification leads to altered competitive dynamics between various taxa. We suggest that as acidification impacts reefs in the future, there will be a shift in community assemblages away from upright and crustose coralline algae toward more fleshy algae and turf, established in the early stages of succession.