Coral colonies were collected from inshore reefs (Port Honduras Marine Reserve; 16°11’23.5314”N, 88°34’21.9360”W) and from offshore reefs (Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve; 16°07’00.0114”N, 88°15’41.1834”W) along the Belize Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) in June 2015. The experiment was carried out from September 2015-December 2015 (recovery and acclimation June 2015-September 2015). 

Net calcification rates were estimated using a buoyant weight method (Davies, 1989). Coral fragments were suspended in a 38 L aquarium 4 cm below the surface in seawater (temperature, 28.2°C; salinity, 32.4) using an aluminum wire hanging from balance. Each coral fragment was weighed three times and averaged. Buoyant weights of all fragments were quantified at the beginning of pre-acclimation and every 30 days throughout the duration of the. Net calcification rates were normalized to the surface area of each fragment and to the number of days between buoyant weights. Surface area was quantified in triplicate from photos of each nubbin taken at corresponding intervals using imaging software. A calcein spike was implanted into coral skeletons at the beginning of the experiment to establish a fluorescent mark that could be used to quantify linear extension throughout the experiment (Venti et al, 2014). Linear extension was measured as the total area of new growth above the calcein line, divided by the lateral length of the. Neither U. tenuifolia nor P. strigosa were included in linear extension analyses because their irregular morphologies prevented accurate measurements of linear extension.

Data were analyzed in R (3.3.2). NIH ImageJ was used to process images.