Data from: Adaptive responses and local stressor mitigation drive coral resilience in warmer, more acidic oceans

Coral reefs have great biological and socioeconomic value, but are
threatened by ocean acidification, climate change, and local human
impacts. The capacity for corals to adapt or acclimatise to novel
environmental conditions is unknown but fundamental to projected reef
futures. The coral reefs of Kāne‘ohe Bay, Hawai‘i were devastated by
anthropogenic insults from the 1930s-1970s. These reefs experience
naturally reduced pH and elevated temperature relative to many other
Hawaiian reefs which are not expected to face similar conditions for
decades. Despite catastrophic loss in coral cover due to human
disturbance, these reefs recovered under low pH and high temperature
within 20 years after sewage input was diverted. We compare the pH and
temperature tolerances of three dominant Hawaiian coral species from
within Kāne‘ohe Bay to conspecifics from a nearby control site and show
that corals from Kāne‘ohe are far more resistant to acidification and
warming. These results show that corals can have different pH and
temperature tolerances among habitats and understanding the mechanisms by
which coral cover rebounded within two decades under projected future
ocean conditions will be critical to management. Together these results
indicate that reducing human stressors offers hope for reef resilience and
effective conservation over coming decades.