Data for manuscript: Water motion influences carbon-use strategies of kelp forest assemblages and defines responses of macroalgae to ocean acidification

A field dataset detailing the abundance and carbon use strategies (obtained with C13 isotopes) of marine macroalgae within 3 wave-exposed and 4 wave-sheltered coastal kelp forests in Otago, New Zealand, along with site information such as temperature, light, nutrients of each site. Additionally, a dataset of the results from a laboratory experiment measuring the photosynthetic response of Xiphophora gladiata and Hymenena palmata to increasing DIC concentrations and under high or low water motion and high (8.1) or low (7.6) pH.