Dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, nitrate, phosphate, temperature and other variables collected from time series observations at Heron Island Reef Flat from 2010-06-01 to 2010-12-13 (NCEI Accession 0127256)

The largest diel temperature ranges occurred in austral spring, in October (1.5 - 6.6 degrees Celsius) and lowest diel ranges (0.9 - 3.2 degrees Celsius) were observed in July, at the peak of winter. We observed large diel total pH variability, with a maximum range of 7.7 - 8.5 total pH units, with minimum diel average pH values occurring during spring and maximum during fall. As with many other reefs, the nighttime pH minima on the reef flat were far lower than pH values predicted for the open ocean by 2100.

DIC and TA both increased from June (end of Fall) to December (end of Spring). Using this high-resolution dataset, we developed exposure metrics of pH and temperature individually for intensity, duration, and severity of low pH and high temperature events, as well as a combined metric. Periods of anomalous temperature and pH exposure were asynchronous on the Heron Island reef flat, which underlines the importance of understanding the dynamics of co-occurrence of multiple stressors on coastal ecosystems.