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General Information

File Identifier:	gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:26945
Metadata Date Stamp:	2020-04
Organization:	Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center
Organization Role:	resourceProvider

Identification Information

Title:	Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Calcification Rates of Crustose Coralline Algae Derived from Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) Deployed across American Samoa and the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2010
Dataset Language:	eng; US
Abstract:	Calcification accretion units, or CAUs, are used to assess the current effects of changes in seawater carbonate chemistry on calcification and accretion rates of calcareous and fleshy algae in the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of the Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP). Laboratory experiments reveal calcification rates of crustose coralline algae (CCA) are strongly correlated to seawater aragonite saturation state. Predictions of reduced coral calcification rates, due to ocean acidification, suggest that coral reef communities will undergo ecological phase shifts as calcifying organisms are negatively impacted by changing seawater chemistry. Deployed on the seafloor for a period of time, CAUs allow for recruitment and colonization of CCA and hard corals. By measuring the change in weight of the CAUs, the reef carbonate accretion rate can be calculated for that time period. Monitoring net accretion over successive deployments allows for the detection of changes in calcification rates over time. The calcification rate data described here are from CAUs that have been deployed and retrieved at existing, long-term monitoring sites during NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led RAMP missions around American Samoa and the Pacific Remote Island Areas in 2010 and 2012, in accordance with protocols developed by Price et al. 2012. There are typically (but not always) five CAU sites established at each location CREP visits with five units deployed at each site. CAUs are composed of two 10 x 10 cm flat, square, gray PVC plates, stacked 1 cm apart, and are attached to the benthos using stainless steel threaded rods. Calcareous organisms, primarily crustose coralline algae and encrusting corals, recruit to these plates and accrete/calcify carbonate skeletons over 2-3 year deployments. Due to the simple, low-cost design and analysis, statistically robust numbers of calcification plates can easily be deployed, recovered, and processed to provide estimates of net calcification. This study provides information about Pacific-wide spatial patterns of algal calcification and accretion rates and serves as a basis for detecting changes associated with changing seawater chemistry due to ocean acidification. In conjunction with benthic community composition data (separate dataset), the calcification rates will aid in determining the magnitude of how ocean acidification affects coral reefs in the natural environment. The data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive. Analysis of these data will expand scientists’ capacity for assessing coral reef resilience regarding the effects of ocean acidification outside of controlled laboratory experiments. 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. This effort is a partnership between CREP and Drs. Nichole Price of Bigelow Marine Laboratory and Jen Smith of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who have extensive knowledge of marine benthic algal community ecology.

Browse Graphic

Browse Graphic URL:	http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/img/calcium_accretion_unit_after_two_years_sm.jpg
Browse Graphic Caption:	A CAU two years after deployment.
Browse Graphic Type:	JPEG

Data Theme

Theme Topics:

Biology and Ecology

Spatial Domain

West Bounding Longitude:	-171.09222
South Bounding Latitude:	-14.55962
East Bounding Longitude:	-168.13785
North Bounding Latitude:	-11.04576

Data Quality Information

Scope (quality information applies to):

Dataset

Data History:

Assembled calcification accretion units (CAUs) are attached to the benthos using stainless steel threaded rods. There are typically five CAU sites established at each location (island) the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) visits with five CAUs deployed at each site (n=25 per location). Calcareous organisms, primarily crustose coralline algae and encrusting corals, recruit to these CAUs and accrete/calcify carbonate skeletons over 2-3 year deployments. Once recovered from the seafloor, the CAUs are processed to provide estimates of net calcification, percent cover, and vertical accretion rates. CAUs have been deployed and replaced at existing, long-term monitoring sites during Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP) cruises, in accordance with protocols developed by Price et al. 2012.

Contact Information

Address:	1845 Wasp Blvd.
City:	Honolulu
State:	HI
Postal Code:	96818
Email:	thomas.oliver@noaa.gov
Telephone:	(808)725-5444

Distribution Information

Format Name:	PDF
Distribution Link:	https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0137093
Distribution Link Function:	Download

Metadata Reference Information

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