Production and accumulation of reef framework by calcifying corals and macroalgae on a remote Indian Ocean cay

McLaughlin, M. James; Bessey, Cindy; Kendrick, Gary A.; Keesing, John; Olsen, Ylva S.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1011-2023

Articles | Volume 20, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1011-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1011-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 5

Research article

|

15 Mar 2023

Research article |

| 15 Mar 2023

Production and accumulation of reef framework by calcifying corals and macroalgae on a remote Indian Ocean cay

M. James McLaughlin, Cindy Bessey, Gary A. Kendrick, John Keesing, and Ylva S. Olsen

Model code and software

gridExtra: Miscellaneous Functions for "Grid" Graphics B. Auguie and A. Antonov https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/gridExtra/index.html

seacarb: Seawater Carbonate Chemistry J.-P. Gattuso, J.-M. Epitalon, J. Orr, B. Gentili, M. Hagens, A. Hofmann, J.-D. Mueller, A. Proye, J. Rae, and K. Soetaert https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/seacarb/index.html

Short summary

Coral reefs face increasing pressures from environmental change at present. The coral reef framework is produced by corals and calcifying algae. The Kimberley region of Western Australia has escaped land-based anthropogenic impacts. Specimens of the dominant coral and algae were collected from Browse Island's reef platform and incubated in mesocosms to measure calcification and production patterns of oxygen. This study provides important data on reef building and climate-driven effects.