Dataset: Calcification rates of communities and sediment in a flume from Richard B Gump Research Station - Moorea LTER, French Polynesia from 2013 (MCR LTER project, OA_Corals project)

This data set includes calcification rates of both the flume community (coral, calcified algae, sediment) and the sediment alone. To investigate the response of coral reef communities to OA, we used large outdoor flumes in which communities composed of calcified algae, corals, and sediment were combined to match the percentage cover of benthic communities in the shallow back reef of Moorea, French Polynesia. Reef communities in the flumes were exposed to ambient (400 μatm) and high pCO2 (1300 μatm) for 8 weeks, and calcification 10 rates measured for the constructed communities including the sediments. Community calcification was depressed 59% under high pCO2, with sediment dissolution explaining 50% of this decrease; net calcification of corals and calcified algae remained positive, but was reduced 29% under elevated pCO2.

Related Reference:
Comeau, S., Carpenter, R. C., Lantz, C. A., and Edmunds, P. J. (2015) Ocean acidification accelerates dissolution of experimental coral reef communities, Biogeosciences, 12, 365-372, doi:10.5194/bg-12-365-2015. www.biogeosciences.net/12/365/2015/

Comeau, S., Edmunds, P. J., Lantz, C. A., & Carpenter, R. C. (2014). Water flow modulates the response of coral reef communities to ocean acidification. Scientific Reports, 4. doi:10.1038/srep06681

Additional related datasets:
carbonate chemistry - flume expt
algae_calcification
coral_calification
carbonate_chemistry
light_dark_calcification
mean_calcification