Evaluating the Distribution of Terrestrial Dissolved Organic Matter in a Complex Coastal Ecosystem Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy

The coastal zone of the Florida Keys features the only living coral reef in the continental United States and as such represents a unique regional environmental resource. Anthropogenic pressures combined with climate disturbances such as hurricanes can affect the biogeochemistry of the region and threaten the health of this unique ecosystem. As such, water quality monitoring has historically been implemented in the Florida Keys, and six spatially distinct zones have been identified. In these studies however, dissolved organic matter (DOM) has only been studied as a quantitative parameter, and DOM composition can be a valuable biogeochemical parameter in assessing environmental change in coastal regions. Here we report the first data of its kind on the application of optical properties of DOM, in particular excitation emission matrix fluorescence with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC), throughout these six Florida Keys regions in an attempt to assess spatial differences in DOM sources. Our data suggests that while DOM in the Florida Keys can be influenced by distant terrestrial environments such as the Everglades, spatial differences in DOM distribution were also controlled in part by local surface runoff/fringe mangroves, contributions from seasgrass communities, as well as the reefs and waters from the Florida Current. Application of principal component analysis (PCA) of the relative abundance of EEM-PARAFAC components allowed for a clear distinction between the sources of DOM (allochthonous vs. autochthonous), between different autochthonous sources and/or the diagenetic status of DOM, and further clarified contribution of terrestrial DOM in zones where levels of DOM were low in abundance. The combination between EEM-PARAFAC and PCA proved to be ideally suited to discern DOM composition and source differences in coastal zones with complex hydrology and multiple DOM sources.

Atlantic Ais in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Maritime Adaptation, Indigenous Wrecking, and Buccaneer Raids on Florida’s Central East Coast

The Ais were a Native American group who lived along the Atlantic shoreline of Florida south of Cape Canaveral. This coastal population’s position adjacent to a major shipping route afforded them numerous encounters with the Atlantic world that linked Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Through their exploitation of the goods and peoples from the European shipwrecks thrown ashore, coupled with their careful manipulation of other Atlantic contacts, the Ais polity established an influential domain in central east Florida during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The pre-contact peoples of Florida’s east coast, including the ancestors of the Ais, practiced a maritime adaptation concentrated on the exploitation of their bountiful riverine, estuarine, and marine environments. The Ais then modified their maritime skills to cope with the opportunities and challenges that accompanied European contact. Using their existing aquatic abilities, they ably salvaged goods and castaways from the Spanish, French, English, and Dutch vessels dashed on the rocks and reefs of Florida’s coast. The Ais’ strategic redistribution of these materials and peoples to other Florida Native Americans, the Spaniards of St. Augustine, and other passing Europeans gained them greater influence. This process, which I call indigenous wrecking, enabled the Ais to expand their domain on the peninsula. Coastal Florida Native Americans’ maritime abilities also attracted the attention of Europeans. In the late seventeenth century, English buccaneers and salvagers raided Florida’s east coast to capture indigenous divers, whom they sent to work the wreck of a sunken Spanish treasure ship located in the Bahamas. The English subsequently sold the surviving Native American captives to other Caribbean slave markets. Despite population losses to such raids, the Ais and other peoples of the east coast thrived on Atlantic exchange and used their existing maritime adaptation to resist colonial intrusions until the start of the eighteenth century. This dissertation thus offers a narrative about Native Americans and the Atlantic that is unlike most Southeastern Indian stories. The Ais used their maritime adaptation and the process of indigenous wrecking to engage and exploit the arriving Atlantic world. In the contact era, the Ais truly became Atlantic Ais.

Non-consumptive effects of predators in coral reef communities and the indirect consequences of marine protected areas

Predators exert strong direct and indirect effects on ecological communities by intimidating their prey. Non-consumptive effects (NCEs) of predators are important features of many ecosystems and have changed the way we understand predator-prey interactions, but are not well understood in some systems. For my dissertation research I combined a variety of approaches to examine the effect of predation risk on herbivore foraging and reproductive behaviors in a coral reef ecosystem. In the first part of my dissertation, I investigated how diet and territoriality of herbivorous fish varied across multiple reefs with different levels of predator biomass in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. I show that both predator and damselfish abundance impacted diet diversity within populations for two herbivores in different ways. Additionally, reef protection and the associated recovery of large predators appeared to shape the trade-off reef herbivores made between territory size and quality. In the second part of my dissertation, I investigated context-dependent causal linkages between predation risk, herbivore foraging behavior and resource consumption in multiple field experiments. I found that reef complexity, predator hunting mode, light availability and prey hunger influenced prey perception of threat and their willingness to feed. This research argues for more emphasis on the role of predation risk in affecting individual herbivore foraging behavior in order to understand the implications of human-mediated predator removal and recovery in coral reef ecosystems.^

Characterizations of the Major Coral Diseases of the Philippines: Ulcerative White Spot Disease and Novel Growth Anomalies of Porites

Coral reefs are in decline worldwide and coral disease is a significant contributing factor. However, etiologies of coral diseases are still not well understood. In contrast with the Caribbean, extremely little is known about coral diseases in the Philippines. In 2005, off Southeast Negros Island, Philippines, I investigated relationships between environmental parameters and prevalence of the two most common coral diseases, ulcerative white spot (UWS) and massive Porites growth anomalies (MPGAs). Samples were collected along a disease prevalence gradient 40.5 km long. Principal component analyses showed prevalence of MPGAs was positively correlated with water column nitrogen, organic carbon of surface sediments, and colony density. UWS was positively correlated with water column phosphorus. This is the first quantitative evidence linking anthropogenically-impacted water and sediment to a higher prevalence of these diseases. Histological and cytological alterations were investigated by comparing tissues from two distinct types of MPGA lesions (types 1 and 2) and healthy coral using light and electron microscopy. Skeletal abnormalities and sloughing, swelling, thinning, and loss of tissues in MPGAs resembled tissues exposed to bacterial or fungal toxins. Both lesion types had decreases in symbiotic zooxanthellae, which supply nutrients to corals. Notable alterations included migrations of chromophore cells (amoebocytes) (1) nocturnally to outer epithelia to perform wound-healing, including plugging gaps and secreting melanin in degraded tissues, and (2) diurnally to the interior of the tissue possibly to prevent shading zooxanthellae in order to maximize photosynthate production. Depletion of melanin (active in wound healing) in type 2 lesions suggested type 2 tissues were overtaxed and less stable. MPGAs contained an abundance of endolithic fungi and virus-like particles, which may result from higher nutrient levels and play roles in disease development. Swollen cells and mucus frequently blocked gastrovascular canals (GVCs) in MPGAs. Type 1 lesions appeared to compensate for impeded flow of wastes and nutrients through these canals with proliferation of new GVCs, which were responsible for the observed thickened tissues. In contrast, type 2 tissues were thin and more degraded. Dysplasia and putative neoplasia were also observed in MPGAs which may result from the tissue regeneration capacity being overwhelmed.

The Use of Hyphenated Spectrometric Techniques for the Environmental Forensic Assessment of Non-Traditional Pollutants and Degradates in the Greater Florida Everglades

A comprehensive investigation of sensitive ecosystems in South Florida with the main goal of determining the identity, spatial distribution, and sources of both organic biocides and trace elements in different environmental compartments is reported. This study presents the development and validation of a fractionation and isolation method of twelve polar acidic herbicides commonly applied in the vicinity of the study areas, including e.g. 2,4-D, MCPA, dichlorprop, mecroprop, picloram in surface water. Solid phase extraction (SPE) was used to isolate the analytes from abiotic matrices containing large amounts of dissolved organic material. Atmospheric-pressure ionization (API) with electrospray ionization in negative mode (ESP-) in a Quadrupole Ion Trap mass spectrometer was used to perform the characterization of the herbicides of interest. The application of Laser Ablation-ICP-MS methodology in the analysis of soils and sediments is reported in this study. The analytical performance of the method was evaluated on certified standards and real soil and sediment samples. Residential soils were analyzed to evaluate feasibility of using the powerful technique as a routine and rapid method to monitor potential contaminated sites. Forty eight sediments were also collected from semi pristine areas in South Florida to conduct screening of baseline levels of bioavailable elements in support of risk evaluation. The LA-ICP-MS data were used to perform a statistical evaluation of the elemental composition as a tool for environmental forensics. A LA-ICP-MS protocol was also developed and optimized for the elemental analysis of a wide range of elements in polymeric filters containing atmospheric dust. A quantitative strategy based on internal and external standards allowed for a rapid determination of airborne trace elements in filters containing both contemporary African dust and local dust emissions. These distributions were used to qualitative and quantitative assess differences of composition and to establish provenance and fluxes to protected regional ecosystems such as coral reefs and national parks.

Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry of South Florida Coastal Marine Ecosystems

Southeast Florida’s continual urban expansion will potentially increase anthropogenic pollution in adjacent coastal marine systems. Furthermore, increased nutrient loads could have detrimental effects on the already threatened Florida Reef Tract. The present study uses a stable isotopic approach to determine the sources and the impact of nutrients on the Florida Reef Tract. δ13C and δ15N analysis of macroalgae, sponges, and sediment were analyzed in order to determine nutrient inputs in this region. While δ13C data did not display any significant trends spatially, δ15N values of the majority of biota exhibited a strong East to West gradient with more enriched values close to shore. Relative enrichment in δ15N values were measured for sediments sampled along the Florida Reef Tract in comparison to a pristine Marquesas Keys sediment core. The δ15N data also implies that shoreline anthropogenic nutrients have more nutrient loading implications on reefs than major point sources.

Seawater carbonate chemistry and skeletal development, size, weight, total lipid and symbiont density of coral Favia fragum in a laboratory experiment

Ocean acidification (OA) threatens the existence of coral reefs by slowing the rate of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) production of framework-building corals thus reducing the amount of CaCO3 the reef can produce to counteract natural dissolution. Some evidence exists to suggest that elevated levels of dissolved inorganic nutrients can reduce the impact of OA on coral calcification. Here, we investigated the potential for enhanced energetic status of juvenile corals, achieved via heterotrophic feeding, to modulate the negative impact of OA on calcification. Larvae of the common Atlantic golf ball coral, Favia fragum, were collected and reared for 3 weeks under ambient (421 µatm) or significantly elevated (1,311 µatm) CO2 conditions. The metamorphosed, zooxanthellate spat were either fed brine shrimp (i.e., received nutrition from photosynthesis plus heterotrophy) or not fed (i.e., primarily autotrophic). Regardless of CO2 condition, the skeletons of fed corals exhibited accelerated development of septal cycles and were larger than those of unfed corals. At each CO2 level, fed corals accreted more CaCO3 than unfed corals, and fed corals reared under 1,311 µatm CO2 accreted as much CaCO3 as unfed corals reared under ambient CO2. However, feeding did not alter the sensitivity of calcification to increased CO2; Delta calcification/Delta Omega was comparable for fed and unfed corals. Our results suggest that calcification rates of nutritionally replete juvenile corals will decline as OA intensifies over the course of this century. Critically, however, such corals could maintain higher rates of skeletal growth and CaCO3 production under OA than those in nutritionally limited environments.

Seawater carbonate chemistry and weight of two Atlantic corals Favia fragum and Porites astreoides during experiments, 2011

Rising concentrations of atmospheric CO2 are changing the carbonate chemistry of the oceans, a process known as ocean acidification (OA). Absorption of this CO2 by the surface oceans is increasing the amount of total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and bicarbonate ion (HCO3) available for marine calcification yet is simultaneously lowering the seawater pH and carbonate ion concentration ([CO3]), and thus the saturation state of seawater with respect to aragonite. We investigated the relative importance of [HCO3] versus [CO3] for early calcification by new recruits (primary polyps settled from zooxanthellate larvae) of two tropical coral species, Favia fragum and Porites astreoides. The polyps were reared over a range of ?ar values, which were manipulated by both acid-addition at constant pCO2 (decreased total [HCO3] and [CO3]) and by pCO2 elevation at constant alkalinity (increased [HCO3], decreased [CO3]). Calcification after 2 weeks was quantified by weighing the complete skeleton (corallite) accreted by each polyp over the course of the experiment. Both species exhibited the same negative response to decreasing [CO3] whether ?ar was lowered by acid-addition or by pCO2 elevation-calcification did not follow total DIC or [HCO3]. Nevertheless, the calcification response to decreasing [CO3] was nonlinear. A statistically significant decrease in calcification was only detected between Omega aragonite = <2.5 and Omega aragonite = 1.1-1.5, where calcification of new recruits was reduced by 22-37% per 1.0 decrease in Omega aragonite. Our results differ from many previous studies that report a linear coral calcification response to OA, and from those showing that calcification increases with increasing [HCO3]. Clearly, the coral calcification response to OA is variable and complex. A deeper understanding of the biomineralization mechanisms and environmental conditions underlying these variable responses is needed to support informed predictions about future OA impacts on corals and coral reefs.

Análise geoambiental da plataforma continental Rasa Equatorial, por meio de sensoriamento remoto e dados sedimentológicos: parrachos de Rio do Fogo-RN, Brasil

In the shallow continental shelf in Northeastern Rio Grande do Norte - Brazil, important underwater geomorphological features can be found 6km from the coastline. They are coral reefs, locally known as “parrachos”. The present study aims to characterize and analyze the geomorphological feature as well as the ones of the benthic surface, and the distribution of biogenic sediments found in parrachos at Rio do Fogo and associated shallow platforms, by using remote sensing products and in situ data collections. This was made possible due to sedimentological, bathymetric and geomorphological maps elaborated from composite bands of images from the satellite sensors ETM+/Landsat-7, OLI/Landsat-8, MS/GeoEye and PAN/WordView-1, and analysis of bottom sediments samples. These maps were analyzed, integrally interpreted and validated in fieldwork, thus permitting the generation of a new geomorphological zoning of the shallow shelf in study and a geoenvironmental map of the Parrachos in Rio do Fogo. The images used were subject to Digital Image Processing techniques. All obtained data and information were stored in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and can become available to the scientific community. This shallow platform has a carbonate bottom composed mostly by algae. Collected and analyzed sediment samples can be classified as biogenic carbonatic sands, as they are composed 75% by calcareous algae, according to the found samples. The most abundant classes are green algae, red algae, nonbiogenic sediments (mineral grains), ancient algae and molluscs. At the parrachos the following was mapped: Barreta Channel, intertidal reefs, submerged reefs, the spur and grooves, the pools, the sandy bank, the bank of algae, sea grass, submerged roads and Rio do Fogo Channel. This work presents new information about geomorphology and evolution in the study area, and will be guiding future decision making in the handling and environmental management of the region

Padrões temporais e grau de diversificação cariotípica em espécies atlânticas da família Acanthuridae (Perciformes)

The Acanthuridae family is a representative group from the marine fish that plays a key role in ecological dynamics of coral reefs. Three species are common along coastal reefs of Western Atlantic: Acanthurus coeruleus, Acanthurus bahianus and Acanthurus chirurgus. In the present study, cytogenetic data are presented for these three species Acanthurus based on classical cytogenetic methods and mapping of repetitive sequences such as ribosomal 18S and 5S rDNA and telomeric repeats to improve their karyotype evolutionary analyses. The cytogenetic pattern of these species indicated sequential steps of chromosomal rearrangements dating back 19 to 5 millions of years ago (M.a.) that accounted for their interspecific differences. A. coeruleus (2n=48; 2sm+4st+42a), A. bahianus (2n=36; 12m+2sm+4st+18a) and A. chirurgus (2n=34; 12m+2sm+4st+16a) share an older set of three chromosomal pairs that were originated through pericentric inversions. A set of six large metacentric pairs formed by Robertsonian (Rb) translocations found in A. bahianus and A. chirurgus and a putative in tandem fusion found in A. chirurgus are more recent events. The lack of interstitial telomeric sequences (ITS) in spite of several centric fusions in A. bahianus and A. chirurgus might be related to the long period of time after their occurrence (estimated in 5 M.a.). Furthermore, the homeologies among the chromosome pairs bearing ribosomal genes, in addition to other structural features, highlight large conserved chromosomal regions in the three species. Our findings indicate that macrostructural changes occurred during the cladogenesis of these species were not followed by conspicuous microstructural rearrangements in the karyotypes.

Distribuição e uso de habitat por peixes recifais em um gradiente ambiental: estudo de caso em recifes areníticos

There are several abiotic factors reported in the literature as regulators of the distribution of fish species in marine environments. Among them stand out structural complexity of habitat, benthic composition, depth and distance from the coast are usually reported as positive influencers in the diversity of difentes species, including reef fish. These are dominant elements in reef systems and considered high ecological and socioeconomic importance. Understanding how the above factors influence the distribution and habitat use of reef fish communities are important for their management and conservation. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the influence of these variables on the community of reef fishes along an environmental gradient of depth and distance from shore base in sandstone reefs in the coast of state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. These variables are also used for creating a simple predictive model reef fish biomass for the environment studied. Data collection was performed through visual surveys in situ, and recorded environmental data (structural complexity of habitat, type of coverage of the substrate, benthic invertebrates) and ecological (wealth, abundance and reef fish size classes). As a complement, information on the diet were raised through literature and the biomass was estimated from the length-weight relationship of each species. Overall, the reefs showed a low coverage by corals and the Shallow reefs, Intermediate I and II dominated by algae and the Funds by algae and sponges. The complexity has increased along the gradient and positively influenced the species richness and abundance. Both attributes influenced in the structure of the reef fish community, increasing the richness, abundance and biomass of fish as well as differentiating the trophic structure of the community along the depth gradient and distance from the coast. Distribution and use of habitat by recifas fish was associated with food availability. The predictor model identified depth, roughness and coverage for foliose algae, calcareous algae and soft corals as the most significant variables influencing in the biomass of reef fish. In short, the description and understanding of these patterns are important steps to elucidate the ecological processes. In this sense, our approach provides a new understanding of the structure of the reef fish community of Rio Grande do Norte, allowing understand a part of a whole and assist future monitoring actions, evaluation, management and conservation of these and other reefs of Brazil.

Do ancoradouro à sala de espera: as obras de melhoramento do porto e a construção de uma Natal moderna (1893-1913)

Through the nineteenth century, it was constant in the discourse of the local norte-rio-grandenses (Natal city, Brazil) administrators, the appeal for subsidy to the central government for the works of the port of Natal upgrade. The port in the capital, the main route of the Rio Grande do Norte communication, because of the limitations attached to it, as the dunes surrounding the city spreading sand in the riverbed, and several reefs located along the coast, did not allow the entry in his berth larger ships. These difficulties brought major problems the province, who could not hold the flow of production coming from the inside, resulting in the north of Rio Grande political scene, questioning the centrality of Christmas position in the province. Only Republican scheme had been approved credit by the federal government for the improvement works of the port. The port became the Republican political discourse Potiguar one of the main promises to bring "progress" the Potiguar land, being placed as a central issue of which depend on the "future" of the state. The objective of this study is to analyse the emergence of a new port concept in speeches and interventions of the local ruling groups in the early twentieth century. We analyse the emergence of a modern notion of port, marked by the organizing effort, rationalization and regulation of port activities by the state, and the new relationship assumed by the harbour front to the city resulting from this new perception. The port has become for local leaders to groups of capital "waiting room", requiring change of the composition of urban space for integrating the port to the city. The Port of Natal became endowed with a pedagogical function, incorporating the urban fabric, codes, values and practices considered by local managers as modern and civilized. This new city space, considered a "waiting room", caused conflicts between the local ruling groups and influential figures in the Potiguar political field, which sought to encourage with the process of organizing the harbour front undesirable regarded figures in the city views as an impediment to the image of progress and modernity that the dominant groups intended to expose the port.

Organic carbon sources and their transfer in a gulf of Mexico coral reef ecosystem

Coral reefs face unprecedented threats throughout most of their range. Poorly planned coastal development has contributed increased nutrients and sewage contamination to coastal waters, smothering some corals and contributing to overgrowth by macroalgae. My approach to assessing the degree to which coral reef ecosystems have been influenced by terrestrial and anthropogenic organic carbon inputs is through the use of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotopes and lipid biomarkers in a marine protected area, the Coral Reef System of Veracruz: Parque Nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano (PNSAV) in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. Firstly, I used a C and N stable isotope mixing model and a calculated fatty acid (FA) retention factor to reveal the primary producer sources that fuel the coral reef food web. Secondly, I used lipid classes, FA and sterol biomarkers to determine production of terrestrial and marine biogenic material of nutritional quality to pelagic and benthic organisms. Finally, I used coprostanol to determine pollutant loading from sewage in the suspended particulate matter. Results indicate that phytoplankton is the major source of essential metabolite FA for marine fish and that dietary energy from terrestrial sources such as mangroves are transferred to juvenile fish, while seagrass non-essential FA are transferred to the entire food web mainly in the rainy season. Sea urchins may be the main consumers of brown macroalgae, especially in the dry season, while surgeon fish prefer red algae in both dry and rainy seasons. C and N isotopic values and the ratio C:N suggest that fertilizer is the principal source of nitrogen to macroalgae. Thus nitrogen supply also favored phytoplankton and seagrass growth leading to a better nutritional condition and high retention of organic carbon in the food web members during the rainy season when river influence increases. However, the great star coral Montastrea cavernosa nutritional condition decreased significantly in the rainy season. The nearest river to the PNSAV was polluted in the dry season; however, a dilution effect was detected in the rainy season, when some coral reefs were contaminated. In 2013, a new treatment plant started working in the area. I would suggest monitoring δ¹⁵N and the C: N ratio in macroalgae as indicators of the nitrogen input and coprostanol as an indicator of human feces pollution in order to verify the efficiency of the new treatment plant as part of the management program of the PNSAV.

Coral reef habitat maps derived from a high-spatial-resolution multi-spectral satellite image using object based image analysis

Coral reef maps at various spatial scales and extents are needed for mapping, monitoring, modelling, and management of these environments. High spatial resolution satellite imagery, pixel <10 m, integrated with field survey data and processed with various mapping approaches, can provide these maps. These approaches have been accurately applied to single reefs (10-100 km**2), covering one high spatial resolution scene from which a single thematic layer (e.g. benthic community) is mapped. This article demonstrates how a hierarchical mapping approach can be applied to coral reefs from individual reef to reef-system scales (10-1000 km**2) using object-based image classification of high spatial resolution images guided by ecological and geomorphological principles. The approach is demonstrated for three individual reefs (10-35 km**2) in Australia, Fiji, and Palau; and for three complex reef systems (300-600 km**2) one in the Solomon Islands and two in Fiji. Archived high spatial resolution images were pre-processed and mosaics were created for the reef systems. Georeferenced benthic photo transect surveys were used to acquire cover information. Field and image data were integrated using an object-based image analysis approach that resulted in a hierarchically structured classification. Objects were assigned class labels based on the dominant benthic cover type, or location-relevant ecological and geomorphological principles, or a combination thereof. This generated a hierarchical sequence of reef maps with an increasing complexity in benthic thematic information that included: 'reef', 'reef type', 'geomorphic zone', and 'benthic community'. The overall accuracy of the 'geomorphic zone' classification for each of the six study sites was 76-82% using 6-10 mapping categories. For 'benthic community' classification, the overall accuracy was 52-75% with individual reefs having 14-17 categories and reef systems 20-30 categories. We show that an object-based classification of high spatial resolution imagery, guided by field data and ecological and geomorphological principles, can produce consistent, accurate benthic maps at four hierarchical spatial scales for coral reefs of various sizes and complexities.

Effect of ocean warming and acidification on the early life stages of subtropical Acropora spicifera

This study investigated the impacts of acidified seawater (pCO2 900 µatm) and elevated water temperature (+3 °C) on the early life history stages of Acropora spicifera from the subtropical Houtman Abrolhos Islands (28°S) in Western Australia. Settlement rates were unaffected by high temperature (27 °C, 250 µatm), high pCO2 (24 °C, 900 µatm), or a combination of both high temperature and high pCO2 treatments (27 °C, 900 µatm). There were also no significant differences in rates of post-settlement survival after 4 weeks of exposure between any of the treatments, with survival ranging from 60 to 70 % regardless of treatment. Similarly, calcification, as determined by the skeletal weight of recruits, was unaffected by an increase in water temperature under both ambient and high pCO2 conditions. In contrast, high pCO2 significantly reduced early skeletal development, with mean skeletal weight in the high pCO2 and combined treatments reduced by 60 and 48 %, respectively, compared to control weights. Elevated temperature appeared to have a partially mitigative effect on calcification under high pCO2; however, this effect was not significant. Our results show that rates of settlement, post-settlement survival, and calcification in subtropical corals are relatively resilient to increases in temperature. This is in marked contrast to the sensitivity to temperature reported for the majority of tropical larvae and recruits in the literature. The subtropical corals in this study appear able to withstand an increase in temperature of 3 °C above ambient, indicating that they may have a wider thermal tolerance range and may not be adversely affected by initial increases in water temperature from subtropical 24 to 27 °C. However, the reduction in skeletal weight with high pCO2 indicates that early skeletal formation will be highly vulnerable to the changes in ocean pCO2 expected to occur over the twenty-first century, with implications for their longer-term growth and resilience.