Coral physiology and intracellular pH (pHi) collected as part of a study of pCO2 variability on the reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis conducted at Heron Island Research Station, Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef in 2021

Abstract

Dataset: Growth and physiology of Pocillopora damicornis: coral physiologyThis dataset contains coral physiology and intracellular pH (pHi) data collected as part of a study of pCO2 variability on the reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis conducted at Heron Island Research Station, Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef in 2021 (Brown et al., 2022). Abstract for all data from the study (Brown et al., 2022) including this dataset: Ocean acidification is a growing threat to coral growth and the accretion of coral reef ecosystems. Corals inhabiting environments that already endure extreme diel pCO2 fluctuations, however, may represent acidification resilient populations capable of persisting on future reefs. Here, we examined the impact of pCO2 variability on the reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis originating from reefs with contrasting environmental histories (variable reef flat vs. stable reef slope) following reciprocal exposure to stable (218 ± 9) or variable (911 ± 31) diel pCO2 amplitude (μtam) in aquaria over eight weeks. This study measured: growth (net calcification, extension, CaCO3 density) and physiology (dark respiration, light-enhanced dark respiration, host soluble protein, mycosporine-like amino acids, net photosynthesis, photosynthetic efficiency, endosymbiont density, chlorophyll a concentration, intracellular pH) of P. damicornis across treatment and origin. See all datasets related to this publication (https://www.bco-dmo.org/related-resource/885684). For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/885659NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-192374