National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Calcification Rates of Crustose Coralline Algae Derived from Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) Deployed across the Marianas Archipelago from 2011 to 2022

The calcification rate data described here are from calcification accretion units (CAUs) that have been retrieved (and replaced) at existing, long-term monitoring sites during the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) led NCRMP missions around the Mariana Archipelago in 2014, 2017, and 2022, as well as pre-NCRMP missions in 2011. 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 in 2011 and 2014, and 5 years in 2017. 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, agrihan island, agrihan island (18n145e0002), algae, algal cover, algal growth, aquatic habitat, asuncion island, asuncion island (19n145e0001), benthic, 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, cnmi, coastal processes, commonwealth of the northern mariana islands, coral reef, 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, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/esd, earth science, ecosystem sciences division, ecosystems, encrusting macroalgae, esd, fleshy macroalgae, guam, guam (13n144e0000), hi'ialakai, in situ, laboratory analyses, maramp, mariana archipelago, mariana archipelago reef assessment and monitoring program, marianas, marianas archipelago, marianas trench marine national monument, marine ecosystems, maug, maug island, maug island (20n145e0001), micronesia, national coral reef monitoring program, national marine fisheries service, ncrmp, nmfs, noaa, northern mariana islands, northern mariana islands ( cnmi ) (18n146e0000), numeric data sets, nw pacific (limit-180), ocean, 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, pagan, pagan island, pagan island (18n145e0001), pifsc, rainier, ramp, reef, reef assessment and monitoring program, reef habitat, reef monitoring and assessment, rota, rota island, rota island ( luta ) (14n145e0007), saipan, saipan island, saipan island (15n145e0002), settling plate, tinian, tinian island (14n145e0005), tinian island reefs, triennial, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, us doc, vegetation, western pacific ocean, zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce