Table of Contents

• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Related Publications
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Program Information
• Funding

Manipulative studies have demonstrated that ocean acidification (OA) is a threat to coral reefs, yet no experiments have employed diurnal variations in pCO2 that are ecologically relevant to many shallow reefs. Two experiments were conducted to test the response of coral recruits (less than 6 days old) to diurnally oscillating pCO2; one exposing recruits for 3 days to ambient (440 uatm), high (663 uatm) and diurnally oscillating pCO2 on a natural phase (420–596 uatm), and another exposing recruits for 6 days to ambient (456 uatm), high (837 uatm) and diurnally oscillating pCO2 on either a natural or a reverse phase (448–845 uatm).

These seawater chemistry data are published in Dufault et al. (2012), Proc. R. Soc. B. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2545, Table 1.

Related Datasets:

recruit_growth_weight
recruit_growth_area
recruit_suvival

Larvae were obtained from brooding colonies coral S. caliendrum collected from 5 to 7 m deep on Hobihu Reef, Nanwan Bay, in March and June of 2010, placed into individual flow-through seawater tanks.  Overflow water from each tank passed through mesh-lined (110 mm) cups that captured larvae. Following collection, larvae were settled onto clean pre-weighed glass microscope coverslips. Coverslips with coral recruits (n=18: experiment I; n=36: experiment II) were assigned randomly to the pCO2 treatments.

In experiment I, treatments consisted of steady ambient pCO2, steady high pCO2 and diurnally oscillating pCO2 on a natural phase; this design was augmented in experiment II by including a diurnally oscillating pCO2 on a reverse phase.

The DIC content of seawater was manipulated by bubbling premixed gas of a known pCO2 or by bubbling unmodified air for the ambient treatment. To mix the gas for the high pCO2 treatments, a system employing a variable-timed solenoid valve was used, which controlled the flow of air and CO2 into a mixing chamber to reach the target pCO2 of 650 matm in experiment I. This target value was selected to provide a conservative estimate for the atmospheric pCO2 by 2100 following the business as usual emission scenario A1 [30]. In experiment II, pCO2 levels were increased to 800 matm to test the effects of diurnally oscillating pCO2 levels that exceeded what is found at Hobihu reef. The solenoid valve was connected to an infrared gas analyser (S151, Qubit Systems, Ontario Canada), which monitored the output gas and provided dynamic control of the duty cycle of the solenoid, thereby providing a consistent concentration of mixed gas to the treatment tanks. Refer to the electronic supplementary material for seawater chemistry and field sampling methods.

For detailed description of methods, see Dufault et al. (2012), Proc. R. Soc. B. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2545

For detailed description of processing see Dufault et al. (2012), Proc. R. Soc. B. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2545

From http://www.lternet.edu/sites/mcr/ and http://mcr.lternet.edu/:
The Moorea Coral Reef LTER site encompasses the coral reef complex that surrounds the island of Moorea, French Polynesia (17°30'S, 149°50'W). Moorea is a small, triangular volcanic island 20 km west of Tahiti in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. An offshore barrier reef forms a system of shallow (mean depth ~ 5-7 m), narrow (~0.8-1.5 km wide) lagoons around the 60 km perimeter of Moorea. All major coral reef types (e.g., fringing reef, lagoon patch reefs, back reef, barrier reef and fore reef) are present and accessible by small boat.

The MCR LTER was established in 2004 by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and is a partnership between the University of California Santa Barbara and California State University, Northridge. MCR researchers include marine scientists from the UC Santa Barbara, CSU Northridge, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, CSU San Marcos, Duke University and the University of Hawaii. Field operations are conducted from the UC Berkeley Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station on the island of Moorea, French Polynesia.

MCR LTER Data: The Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER data are managed by and available directly from the MCR project data site URL shown above.  The datasets listed below were collected at or near the MCR LTER sampling locations, and funded by NSF OCE as ancillary projects related to the MCR LTER core research themes.

This project is supported by continuing grants with slight name variations:

• LTER: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
• LTER: MCR II - Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
• LTER: MCR IIB: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
• LTER: MCR III: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
• LTER: MCR IV: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem

Tropical coral reefs face a suite of environmental assaults ranging from anchor damage to the effects of global climate change (GCC). The consequences are evident throughout the tropics, where many coral reefs have lost a substantial fraction of their coral cover in a few decades. Notwithstanding the importance of reducing the impacts of environmental stresses, the only means by which these ecosystems can recover (or simply persist) is through the recruitment of scleractinians, which is a function of successful larval development, delivery, settlement, metamorphosis, and post-settlement events. Despite wide recognition of the importance of these processes, there are few pertinent empirical data, and virtually none that address the mechanisms mediating the success of early coral life stages in a physical environmental varying at multiple spatio-temporal scales.

The objective of this research is to complete one of the first comprehensive ecophysiological analyses of the early life stages of corals through a description of: (1) their functionality under 'normal' conditions, and (2) their response to the main drivers of GCC. These analyses will be completed for 2 species representative of a brooding life history strategy, and the experiments will be completed in two locations, one (Taiwan) that provides unrivalled experience in coral reproductive biology, and superb microcosm facilities, and the other (Moorea), with access to a relatively pristine environment, a well described ecological and oceanographic context (through the MCR-LTER), and the capacity to bring a strong biogeographic contrast to the project. The results of the study will be integrated through modeling to explore the effects of GCC on coral community structure over the next century.

The following publications and data resulted from this project:

2013    Wall CB, Fan TY, Edmunds PJ.  Ocean acidification has no effect on thermal bleaching in the coral Seriatopora caliendrum.  Coral Reefs 33: 119-130.
Symbiodinium_Seriatopora photosynthesis
Symbiodinium_Seriatopora PI curve
Symbiodinium_Seriatopora temp-salinity-light
Symbiodinium_Seriatopora water chemistry
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2013    Wall CB, Edmunds PJ. In situ effects of low pH and elevated HCO3- on juvenile Porites spp. in Moorea, French Polynesia.  Biological Bulletin 225:92-101.
Data at MCR and PANGEA: doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.833913
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2013    Vivian R Cumbo, Peter J Edmunds, Christopher B Wall, Tung-Yung Fan. Brooded coral larvae differ in their response to high temperature and elevated pCO2 depending on the day of release.  Marine Biology DOI 10.1007/s00227-013-2280-y.
Data also at PANGEA: doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.831612
brooded coral larvae 2 - carbonate chemistry
brooded coral larvae 2 - larval release March 2003-2008
brooded coral larvae 2 - respiration_photosyth_mortality
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2013    Edmunds PJ, Cumbo VR, Fan TY. Metabolic costs of larval settlement and metamorphosis in the coral Seriatopora caliendrum under ambient and elevated pCO2.  Journal Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 443: 33-38 Data also at PANGEA: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.821644
Coral post-settlement physiology
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2013    Aaron M Dufault, Aaron Ninokawa, Lorenzo Bramanti, Vivian R Cumbo, Tung-Yung Fan, Peter J Edmunds.  The role of light in mediating the effects of ocean acidification on coral calcification.  Journal of Experimental Biology 216: 1570-1577.
coral-light expt.- PAR
coral-light expt.- carbonate chemistry
coral-light expt.- temp_salinity
coral-light expt.- growth
coral-light expt.- protein
coral-light expt.- survival
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2012    Cumbo, VR, Fan TY, Edmunds PJ. Effects of exposure duration on the response of Pocillopora damicornis larvae to elevated temperature and high pCO2.  J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 439: 100-107.
Data is also at PANGEA: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.823582
brooded coral larvae 3 - carbonate chemistry
brooded coral larvae 3 - light
brooded coral larvae 3 - mortality
brooded coral larvae 3 - protein
brooded coral larvae 3 - respiration and protein
brooded coral larvae 3 - respiration raw data
brooded coral larvae 3 - symbiont density
brooded coral larvae 3 - tank temperature
- Download part 1 of data for this publication (Excel file)
- Download tank parameters data for this publication (Excel file)

2012    Cumbo, VR, Fan TY, Edmunds PJ.  Physiological development of brooded larvae from two pocilloporid corals in Taiwan.  Marine Biology 159: 2853-2866.
brooded coral - carbonate chemistry
brooded coral - release
brooded coral - respiration
brooded coral - settlement competency
brooded coral - size_July
brooded coral - size_protein_symbionts_photosynth
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2012    Dufault, Aaron M; Vivian R Cumbo; Tung-Yung Fan; Peter J Edmunds.  Effects of diurnally oscillating pCO2 on the calcification and survival of coral recruits.  Royal Society of London (B) 279: 2951-2958.  doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2545
Data is also at PANGEA: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.830185
recruit_growth_area
recruit_growth_weight
recruit_seawater_chemistry
recruit_survival
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2011    Edmunds PJ, Cumbo V, Fan TY.  Effects of temperature on the respiration of brooded larvae from tropical reef corals.  Journal of Experimental Biology 214: 2783-2790. 
CoralLarvae_comparison_respir
CoralLarvae_release
CoralLarvae_respir
CoralLarvae_size
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

adapted from http://www.lternet.edu/

The National Science Foundation established the LTER program in 1980 to support research on long-term ecological phenomena in the United States. The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is a collaborative effort involving more than 1800 scientists and students investigating ecological processes over long temporal and broad spatial scales. The LTER Network promotes synthesis and comparative research across sites and ecosystems and among other related national and international research programs. The LTER research sites represent diverse ecosystems with emphasis on different research themes, and cross-site communication, network publications, and research-planning activities are coordinated through the LTER Network Office.

2017 LTER research site map obtained from https://lternet.edu/site/lter-network/