Calcification rates of crustose coralline algae (CCA) derived from Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) deployed at coral reef sites in Batangas, Philippines from 2012 to 2015

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. Calcification accretion units, or CAUs, are used by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) to assess the current effects of changes in seawater carbonate chemistry on calcification and accretion rates of calcareous and fleshy algae.

CAUs, constructed in-house by CREP, are composed of two 10 x 10 cm flat, square, gray PVC plates, stacked 1 cm apart, and are attached to the benthos by SCUBA divers using stainless steel threaded rods. Deployed on the seafloor for a period of time, calcareous organisms, primarily crustose coralline algae and encrusting corals, recruit to these plates and accrete/calcify carbonate skeletons over time. By measuring the change in weight of the CAUs, the reef carbonate accretion rate can be calculated for that time period.

The calcification rate data described here were collected by CREP from CAUs moored at fixed climate survey sites located on hard bottom shallow water (< 15 m) habitats in the Philippines, in accordance with protocols developed by Price et al. (2012). Climate sites were established by CREP to assess multiple features of the coral reef environment (in addition to the data described herein) from March 2012 to June 2015, and five CAUs were deployed at each survey site.

In conjunction with benthic community composition data (archived separately), these data serve as a baseline for detecting changes associated with changing seawater chemistry due to ocean acidification within coral reef environments. The data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

The Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) at NOAA Fisheries is conducting in-situ climate monitoring across the U.S. Pacific Islands Region. Climate monitoring provides a comprehensive view of climate change impacts on coral reef ecosystems and helps identify areas of resilience and vulnerability. The key indicators used to identify and monitor climate-driven trends include 1) thermal stress caused by changes in sea temperature, 2) ocean acidification resulting from changes in carbonate chemistry, and 3) ecological impacts by collecting data on coral growth rates and community structure to understand the impacts of thermal stress and ocean acidification on the ecosystem.

This particular dataset for the Philippines is part of a 3-year project ("Climate, Biodiversity and Fisheries in the Coral Triangle: Embracing the E in Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries Management") implemented by CREP. This project was funded by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Regional Development Mission Asia (RDMA) as part of the U.S. Coral Triangle Initiative, with additional support from the Coral Triangle Support Partnership and USAID Philippines.

The goal of the project was to build on CREP's expertise to provide tools and information about climate change, ocean acidification, and their impacts on biodiversity and fisheries that could inform and be incorporated into an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) for the Philippines. CREP worked with local governments, communities, and NGOs to build science capacity by establishing robust observing capabilities and providing hands-on training to initiate collection of climate science information for the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines that can be used toward adaptive EAFM.

The NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) traveled to the Verde Island Passage region of the Philippines in 2012 to deploy moored oceanographic (subsurface temperature recorders [STRs]) and ecological (calcification accretion units [CAUs] and autonomous reef monitoring structures [ARMS]) instrumentation, to collect surface and bottom water samples, and to conduct benthic photo-quadrat surveys, which included the collection of benthic images; in 2013 to collect additional water samples; and again in 2015 to recover the instrumentation and to collect another round of water samples and benthic images. All activities were conducted by SCUBA divers at five locations in the municipalities of Mabini and Tingloy, including Batong Buhay, Koala Reserve Area, Arthur's Reef, Twin Rocks, and Batalang Bato. At each of the five locations, a shallow and deep survey site was established for a total of 10 survey sites.

While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.

Mabini and Tingloy in Batangas, Philippines

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Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) Data Sharing Recommendations, version 9.0 updated August 12, 2015:

CREP welcomes the opportunity to collaborate on research issues contributing to the scientific basis for better management of marine ecosystems. CREP has a very diverse set of field activities that generates large volumes of data using an array of data collection protocols.

The following recommendations are for your consideration as you use this data:

1) Data analyses should take all field exigencies into account. The most effective way to do this would be active collaboration with CREP principal investigators.

2) In all presentations, product releases, or publications using data generated by CREP, proper acknowledgement of both CREP and the individuals responsible for data collection is expected. Citing the DOI (if available) is preferred, a non-DOI example is listed below.

3) If you collect or generate data for the same study areas, CREP requests that you share relevant information on complimentary data collections.

4) Those receiving data are strongly urged to inform the CREP Data Management Team of any errors and discrepancies that are discovered during the course of using these data. They are further urged to bring to the attention of the Team all problems and difficulties encountered in using these data. This information is necessary in order to improve the collections and to facilitate more efficient and economical data processing and retrieval. The users are asked to supply copies of any missing data that may be located, and to provide information as to significant subsets and special aggregations of data that are developed in using the material provided.

Example citation:

"This publication makes use of data products provided by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with funding support from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and the United States Agency for International Development. The analysis and interpretations presented here are solely that of the current authors”

Data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

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Please cite NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) when using the data.

Suggested Citation:

Coral Reef Ecosystem Program; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (2017). Calcification rates of crustose coralline algae (CCA) derived from Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) deployed at coral reef sites in Batangas, Philippines from 2012 to 2015. NOAA's National Center for Environmental Information, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/45816.

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PIFSC Oracle database view: V_CALCIFICATION_RATE_BY_UNIT

Prior to processing the calcification accretion unit (CAU) samples, laboratory analysts are trained to properly use relevant lab equipment (analytical balance, vacuum filtration pump, etc.) and are familiarized with the data entry tool/spreadsheet. Laboratory analysts are also required to go through the CAU Processing Standard Operating Procedure and other training materials.

Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) that have been deployed may not have been recovered due to logistical constraints of the following mission or could not be found when divers returned to the site. This can be quantified by comparing the number of recovered units to the number of units originally deployed (typically, 5 units per site).

The calcification rate and ratio of calcified materials to fleshy materials are determined for each Calcification Accretion Unit (CAU) recovered by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP). Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Scripps) staff may conduct additional analyses of specific units to determine functional group coverage and to determine species recruitment rates based on the results of analyzed photos collected during the unit recovery and disassembly process.

The sampling procedure is based on the protocols developed by Price et al. 2012 with slight modifications. Specifically, the following changes were implemented in 2013: 1) camera settings (adjusted to fit laboratory light conditions), and 2) use of freshwater in lieu of seawater during plate photo-documentation (seawater was not readily available in the new facility). Further, the processing procedures were also modified in 2013 such that the acceptable criteria for samples to be considered completely dry was set to 0.1 grams instead of 0.2 grams—that is, if two subsequent dry weights do not fall within the identified acceptable range (0.1 grams), the drying process will continue until this criteria is met.

Prior to processing a batch of CAUs recovered from a region, laboratory analysts inventory the recovered Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) to ensure all units are accounted for and all serial numbers assigned to each unit match field data records. The Data Manager additionally performs quality control checks on the site deployment data and the recovery data for further accuracy. Once all CAUs from the region have been processed, the dataset is checked by the analysts to ensure: 1) all CAU plates have been processed, 2) there are no missing cell values, and 3) calculations for net weight of calcified materials are correct. The dataset is then turned over to the Data Manager for further quality control procedures and data ingestion into the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program's master database.

NOAA IRC and NOAA Fisheries ITS resources and assets.

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