National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Calcification Rates of Crustose Coralline Algae Derived from Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) Deployed across the Pacific Remote Island Areas from 2010 to 2018

The calcification rate data described here are derived from Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) that were deployed and retrieved at long-term climate monitoring sites during NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) led National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) missions across the Pacific Remote Island Regions in 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018, as well as pre-NCRMP missions in 2010, 2011, and 2012.  CAUs are PVC settlement plates that facilitate the recruitment and colonization of crustose coralline algae, hard corals, and other reef calcifiers. Laboratory experiments show that CCA and coral calcification rates are strongly correlated with seawater chemistry, and shifts in carbonate chemistry conditions due to ocean acidification could lead to reduced calcification and accretion rates and ecological phase shifts in coral reef communities.

Coral reef calcium carbonate accretion rates can be estimated by measuring the change in weight of the CAUs between deployment and retrieval. Monitoring net accretion over successive deployments allows for the detection of changes in reef calcification rates over time. Five units were deployed on the seafloor at each CAU site for 3 years. The number of processed CAUs for a site may be less than the number deployed, either because the units were lost or damaged at sea and therefore not recovered, or in rare instances, due to errors during laboratory processing.

This study provides information about spatial and temporal patterns of reef carbonate calcification and accretion rates and serves as a basis for detecting changes associated with changing seawater chemistry due to ocean acidification. These data can also be used in comparative analyses across natural gradients, thereby assisting efforts to determine whether key reef-building taxa can acclimatize to changing oceanographic environments. These data will have immediate, direct impacts on predictions of reef resilience in a higher carbon dioxide (CO2) world and on the design of reef management strategies.

Tags: 1221, 409, 587, 743, algae, algal cover, algal growth, american samoa reef assessment and monitoring program, aquatic habitat, asramp, baker island, baker island (00n176w0001), biosphere, c204 pacific reef assessment and monitoring program (pacific ramp): biennial monitoring for the us p, calcareous macroalgae, calcification, calcification accretion unit, calcification accretion unit (cau), calcification plate, calcification rate, carbonate chemistry, central pacific ocean, coastal processes, coral reef conservation program, coral reef ecosystem division, coral reef ecosystem program, coral reef studies, coral reefs, corals, country/territory, cred, crep, crustose coralline algae, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc, earth science, ecosystem sciences division, encrusting macroalgae, equatorial pacific ocean, esd, fleshy macroalgae, hi'ialakai, howland island, howland island (00s176w0001), in situ, jarvis island (00s160w0001), johnston atoll, johnston atoll (16n169w0001), kingman reef (06n162w0001), laboratory analyses, line islands, maramp, mariana archipelago reef assessment and monitoring program, national coral reef monitoring program, national marine fisheries service, ncrmp, nmfs, noaa, numeric data sets, ocean acidification, ocean acidification - quantification of calcification and accretion rates of corals and crustose cor, ocean acidification program, ocean basin, ocean chemistry, oceans, office of oceanic and atmospheric research, pacific islands fisheries science center, pacific ocean, pacific reef and assessment monitoring program, pacific reef assessment and monitoring program: monitoring coral reef ecosystems of the us pacific i, pacific remote island areas, pacific remote islands marine national monument, palmyra atoll (05n162w0001), pifsc, pria, primnm, ramp, reef assessment and monitoring program, reef habitat, reef monitoring and assessment, settlement plate, triennial, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, us doc, usa minor outlying islands, vegetation, wake atoll, wake atoll (19n167e0001), zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce