Table of Contents

• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Program Information
• Funding

The physiological development of brooded larvae from the pocilloporid corals Pocillopora damicornis and Seriatopora caliendrum in southern Taiwan was examined.

These data include larval respiration rates from experiments conducted in June and July, 2010.

Related datasets:
brooded coral - carbonate chemistry
brooded coral - release
brooded coral - settlement competency
brooded coral - size_July
brooded coral - size_protein_symbionts_photosynth

These data are published in Cumbo, VR, Fan TY, Edmunds PJ. (2012) Physiological development of brooded larvae from two pocilloporid corals in Taiwan. Marine Biology 159: 2853-2866. DOI 10.1007/s00227-012-2046-y. See Figs. 1d and 3e.

Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

Dark respiration of larvae Larval respiration was measured as O2 uptake by a group of 6 swimming larvae in Wheaton vials (2 mL) that were incubated in darkness at the same temperature as the treatments (~28C) (Edmunds et al. 2011). O2 was measured using a ruthenium-based optrode (FOXY-R, 1.58 diameter, Ocean Optics) connected to a spectrophotometer (USB2000, Ocean Optics) and interfaced with a computer running Ocean Optics software (OOISensor, version 1.00.08). The optrode was two-point calibrated in a zero solution (sodium sulfite and 0.010 mol L-1 sodium tetraborate) and water-saturated air at the experimental temperature. At each sampling, four replicates of 6 larvae were placed in Wheaton vials filled with filtered seawater (1 lm, FSW) and sealed with Parafilm; these were accompanied by four control vials that were processed in an identical manner but without larvae. The O2 saturation of the water used to fill the vials was recorded using the optrode and again in each vial following incubations lasting 1.5-2.0 h. The incubations were completed in a temperature-regulated bath (±0.1C, Hipoint, models LC-06), and the vials were inverted prior to measuring O2 saturation; larval motility during the incubations prevented the formation of boundary layers. O2 saturation was converted to concentration using gas tables [N. Ramsing and J. Gundersen at http://www.unisense.com (based on Garcia and Gordon 1992)], and the temperature and salinity of the seawater, and the change in O2 concentration converted to nmol O2 min-1 larva-1 after adjusting for control O2 fluxes.

BCO-DMO processing notes:

- added conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date, reference information
- added lab, lat, lon, expt columns
- renamed parameters to BCO-DMO standard
- combined data from Figures 1d and 3e

From http://www.lternet.edu/sites/mcr/ and http://mcr.lternet.edu/:
The Moorea Coral Reef LTER site encompasses the coral reef complex that surrounds the island of Moorea, French Polynesia (17°30'S, 149°50'W). Moorea is a small, triangular volcanic island 20 km west of Tahiti in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. An offshore barrier reef forms a system of shallow (mean depth ~ 5-7 m), narrow (~0.8-1.5 km wide) lagoons around the 60 km perimeter of Moorea. All major coral reef types (e.g., fringing reef, lagoon patch reefs, back reef, barrier reef and fore reef) are present and accessible by small boat.

The MCR LTER was established in 2004 by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and is a partnership between the University of California Santa Barbara and California State University, Northridge. MCR researchers include marine scientists from the UC Santa Barbara, CSU Northridge, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, CSU San Marcos, Duke University and the University of Hawaii. Field operations are conducted from the UC Berkeley Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station on the island of Moorea, French Polynesia.

MCR LTER Data: The Moorea Coral Reef (MCR) LTER data are managed by and available directly from the MCR project data site URL shown above.  The datasets listed below were collected at or near the MCR LTER sampling locations, and funded by NSF OCE as ancillary projects related to the MCR LTER core research themes.

This project is supported by continuing grants with slight name variations:
LTER: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
LTER: MCR II - Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
LTER: MCR IIB: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
LTER: MCR III: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem
LTER: MCR IV: Long-Term Dynamics of a Coral Reef Ecosystem

Tropical coral reefs face a suite of environmental assaults ranging from anchor damage to the effects of global climate change (GCC). The consequences are evident throughout the tropics, where many coral reefs have lost a substantial fraction of their coral cover in a few decades. Notwithstanding the importance of reducing the impacts of environmental stresses, the only means by which these ecosystems can recover (or simply persist) is through the recruitment of scleractinians, which is a function of successful larval development, delivery, settlement, metamorphosis, and post-settlement events. Despite wide recognition of the importance of these processes, there are few pertinent empirical data, and virtually none that address the mechanisms mediating the success of early coral life stages in a physical environmental varying at multiple spatio-temporal scales.

The objective of this research is to complete one of the first comprehensive ecophysiological analyses of the early life stages of corals through a description of: (1) their functionality under 'normal' conditions, and (2) their response to the main drivers of GCC. These analyses will be completed for 2 species representative of a brooding life history strategy, and the experiments will be completed in two locations, one (Taiwan) that provides unrivalled experience in coral reproductive biology, and superb microcosm facilities, and the other (Moorea), with access to a relatively pristine environment, a well described ecological and oceanographic context (through the MCR-LTER), and the capacity to bring a strong biogeographic contrast to the project. The results of the study will be integrated through modeling to explore the effects of GCC on coral community structure over the next century.

The following publications and data resulted from this project:

2013    Wall CB, Fan TY, Edmunds PJ.  Ocean acidification has no effect on thermal bleaching in the coral Seriatopora caliendrum.  Coral Reefs 33: 119-130.
Symbiodinium_Seriatopora photosynthesis
Symbiodinium_Seriatopora PI curve
Symbiodinium_Seriatopora temp-salinity-light
Symbiodinium_Seriatopora water chemistry
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2013    Wall CB, Edmunds PJ. In situ effects of low pH and elevated HCO3- on juvenile Porites spp. in Moorea, French Polynesia.  Biological Bulletin 225:92-101.
Data at MCR and PANGEA: doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.833913
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2013    Vivian R Cumbo, Peter J Edmunds, Christopher B Wall, Tung-Yung Fan. Brooded coral larvae differ in their response to high temperature and elevated pCO2 depending on the day of release.  Marine Biology DOI 10.1007/s00227-013-2280-y.
Data also at PANGEA: doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.831612
brooded coral larvae 2 - carbonate chemistry
brooded coral larvae 2 - larval release March 2003-2008
brooded coral larvae 2 - respiration_photosyth_mortality
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2013    Edmunds PJ, Cumbo VR, Fan TY. Metabolic costs of larval settlement and metamorphosis in the coral Seriatopora caliendrum under ambient and elevated pCO2.  Journal Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 443: 33-38 Data also at PANGEA: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.821644
Coral post-settlement physiology
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2013    Aaron M Dufault, Aaron Ninokawa, Lorenzo Bramanti, Vivian R Cumbo, Tung-Yung Fan, Peter J Edmunds.  The role of light in mediating the effects of ocean acidification on coral calcification.  Journal of Experimental Biology 216: 1570-1577.
coral-light expt.- PAR
coral-light expt.- carbonate chemistry
coral-light expt.- temp_salinity
coral-light expt.- growth
coral-light expt.- protein
coral-light expt.- survival
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2012    Cumbo, VR, Fan TY, Edmunds PJ. Effects of exposure duration on the response of Pocillopora damicornis larvae to elevated temperature and high pCO2.  J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 439: 100-107.
Data is also at PANGEA: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.823582
brooded coral larvae 3 - carbonate chemistry
brooded coral larvae 3 - light
brooded coral larvae 3 - mortality
brooded coral larvae 3 - protein
brooded coral larvae 3 - respiration and protein
brooded coral larvae 3 - respiration raw data
brooded coral larvae 3 - symbiont density
brooded coral larvae 3 - tank temperature
- Download part 1 of data for this publication (Excel file)
- Download tank parameters data for this publication (Excel file)

2012    Cumbo, VR, Fan TY, Edmunds PJ.  Physiological development of brooded larvae from two pocilloporid corals in Taiwan.  Marine Biology 159: 2853-2866.
brooded coral - carbonate chemistry
brooded coral - release
brooded coral - respiration
brooded coral - settlement competency
brooded coral - size_July
brooded coral - size_protein_symbionts_photosynth
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2012    Dufault, Aaron M; Vivian R Cumbo; Tung-Yung Fan; Peter J Edmunds.  Effects of diurnally oscillating pCO2 on the calcification and survival of coral recruits.  Royal Society of London (B) 279: 2951-2958.  doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2545
Data is also at PANGEA: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.830185
recruit_growth_area
recruit_growth_weight
recruit_seawater_chemistry
recruit_survival
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

2011    Edmunds PJ, Cumbo V, Fan TY.  Effects of temperature on the respiration of brooded larvae from tropical reef corals.  Journal of Experimental Biology 214: 2783-2790. 
CoralLarvae_comparison_respir
CoralLarvae_release
CoralLarvae_respir
CoralLarvae_size
- Download complete data for this publication (Excel file)

adapted from http://www.lternet.edu/

The National Science Foundation established the LTER program in 1980 to support research on long-term ecological phenomena in the United States. The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is a collaborative effort involving more than 1800 scientists and students investigating ecological processes over long temporal and broad spatial scales. The LTER Network promotes synthesis and comparative research across sites and ecosystems and among other related national and international research programs. The LTER research sites represent diverse ecosystems with emphasis on different research themes, and cross-site communication, network publications, and research-planning activities are coordinated through the LTER Network Office.

2017 LTER research site map obtained from https://lternet.edu/site/lter-network/