DOI: 10.5061/dryad.327c2
title: Data from: Low recruitment due to altered settlement substrata as primary constraint for coral communities under ocean acidification

description: The future of coral reefs under increasing CO2 depends on their capacity
 to recover from disturbances. To predict the recovery potential of coral
 communities that are fully acclimatized to elevated CO2, we compared the
 relative success of coral recruitment and later life stages at two
 volcanic CO2 seeps and adjacent control sites in Papua New Guinea. Our
 field experiments showed that the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on
 coral recruitment rates were up to an order of magnitude greater than the
 effects on the survival and growth of established corals. Settlement
 rates, recruit and juvenile densities were best predicted by the presence
 of crustose coralline algae, as opposed to the direct effects of seawater
 CO2. Offspring from high CO2 acclimatized parents had similarly impaired
 settlement rates as offspring from control parents. For most coral taxa,
 field data showed no evidence of cumulative and compounding detrimental
 effects of high CO2 on successive life stages, and three taxa showed
 improved adult performance at high CO2 that compensated for their low
 recruitment rates. Our data suggest that severely declining capacity for
 reefs to recover, due to altered settlement substrata and reduced coral
 recruitment, is likely to become a dominant mechanism of how OA will alter
 coral reefs.
description: Carbonate chemistry of
 the two study reefs - means over sitesCarbonate chemistry of
 the two study reefs - mean values per site at high CO2 at the CO2 seeps,
 and their adjacent control sites.a wq 2 reefs means over
 sites.csvCarbonate chemistry of
 the two study reefs - means over tilesCarbonate chemistry of
 the two study reefs - mean values for each of the settlement
 tiles.a wq
 2 reefs means over tiles.csvSettlement choice
 experimentsChoice of larvae of
 Acropora tenuis to settle on settlement substrata from either High-CO2 or
 Control sites.b1 choice expts14
 final.csvSettlement no-choice
 experimentsSettlement rates of
 Acropora tenuis larvae from parents originating from high CO2 or control
 sites.b2
 no-choice expts 123.csvSurvival of A.tenuis
 recruits in fieldSurvival rates of
 A.tenuis recruits after returning into field settings at variable CO2
 concentrations.b3 Survival A.tenuis recruits
 in field.csvSubstrata on settlement
 tilesSubstrata on settlement
 tiles including individual taxa of crustose coralline
 algaec
 tiles substrata indiv CCA.csvSubstrata on settlement
 tiles - summary variablesSubstrata on settlement
 tiles - summary variablesc tiles summary
 var.csvPredictors of coral
 recruitment on settlement tilesPredictors of densities
 of coral recruits on settlement tiles - summary
 variablesd
 Tiles 2rf summary plots.csvPredictors of coral
 recruit densities on settlement tilesPredictors of coral
 recruit densities on settlement tiles from Dobu and Upa Upasina
 reefsd
 tiles abt 2rf.csvDensities of coral
 juvenilesDensities of coral
 juveniles at Dobu and Upa Upasina CO2 seep and Control
 sites.e
 juv.2rf.csvLog ratios of responses
 of coral life stages to elevated CO2Log ratios of responses
 of various coral life stages to elevated CO2, from this study and the
 literature.e
 matrix9.csv