Data from: Heritable variation and lack of tradeoffs suggest adaptive capacity in Acropora cervicornis despite negative synergism under climate change scenarios

Knowledge of multi-stressor interactions and the potential for trade-offs
among tolerance traits is essential for developing intervention strategies
for the conservation and restoration of reef ecosystems in a changing
climate. Thermal extremes and acidification are two major co-occurring
stresses predicted to limit the recovery of vital Caribbean reef-building
corals. Here we conducted an aquaria-based experiment to quantify the
effects of increased water temperatures and pCO2 individually and in
concert on 12 genotypes of the endangered branching coral, Acropora
cervicornis, currently being reared and outplanted for large-scale coral
restoration. Quantification of 11 host, symbiont, and holobiont traits
throughout the 2-month long experiment showed several synergistic negative
effects, where the combined stress treatment often caused greater
reduction in physiological function than the individual stressors alone.
However, we found significant genetic variation for most traits and
positive trait correlations among treatments indicating an apparent lack
of tradeoffs, suggesting that adaptive evolution will not be constrained.
Our results suggest that it may be possible to incorporate
climate-resistant coral genotypes into restoration and selective breeding
programs, potentially accelerating adaptation.