MCR LTER: Coral Reef: Coral size, temperature and turbulence data in support of Edmunds and Burgess MarBio 2017

In this study, we tested the effects of colony size and seawater turbulence on the
response of the common Indo-Pacific branching coral, Pocillopora verrucosa, to different
seawater temperatures. Using whole-colony calcification as a response variable, 12 tanks (each
150 l) were used in two trials lasting 14 days to contrast the effects of seawater turbulence (two
levels) and temperature (25.5°C vs 29.5°C) on colonies varying in size from ~4 to 13-cm
diameter. Turbulence in the tanks was measured as the root mean square (rms) turbulent flow
speed (q rms ), which quantified the variation in speed of complex and non-linear flow, regardless
of direction. Treatments contrasted low (q rms = 0.63 cm s -1 ) and high (q rms = 2.07 cm s -1 ) turbulence
that were ecologically relevant for shallow coral reefs. This worksheet contains data for the table and figures from the manuscript Edmunds and Burgess entitled 'Colony size modulates the calcification response of the coral Pocillopora
verrucosa to turbulent flow speed and temperature', Marine Bio, 2017.