Dataset was collated from surveys in the west side of Vavvaru Island, Lhaviyani Atoll, Maldives. The data were collected as a series of triplicate 25 m x 2 m transecs parallel to shore, at three locations on the reef flat: near (70 m from the shore), mid (140 m from the shore) and far (210 m from the shore). All locations were at similar depths of 1 m. This took place during March 2015. Along each transect the number and size of all coralliths and total number of non-free living individuals were recorded, alongside with several environmental parameters (Water Temperature, Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR), Total Alkalinity, Dissolved Inorganic Carbon and Dissolved Oxygen). Abundance and size of coralliths was recorded through non-invasive techniques and the environmental parameters were obtained through multiple instruments: Fluorometer, Oxygen sensor, spectrophotometry, Titration and a PAR logger. The aim was to examine whether corals have the capacity to create their own stable habitat through 'free-living stabilisation'. The work was supported by an Independent Research Fellowship from NERC to Sebastian Hennige (NE/K009028/1; NE/K009028/2), an Independent Research Fellowship from the Marine Alliance for Science & Technology for Scotland to Heidi Burnett, an Independent Research Fellowship from the Royal Society of Edinburgh / Scottish Government (RSE 48701/1) and NERC (NE/H010025) to Nick Kamenos, a Gilchrist Fieldwork Award to Heidi Burnett, Sebastian Hennige and Nick Kamenos by the Gilchrist Educational Trust, administered by the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), and a Research Incentive Grant from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland to Heidi Burnett, Sebastian Hennige and Nick Kamenos (grant # 70013). Field sampling was under permission from the Maldives Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture ((OTHR) 30-D/lNDIV/2015).

To understand seasonal climatic variability in the North East Atlantic, a fortnightly resolution marine climate record from 1353–2006 was constructed for shallow inshore waters on the west coast of Scotland using red coralline algae. The data are available in an Excel file as mean winter and summer temperatures with 95% confidence intervals for each year from 1353 to 2006. SCUBA was used to collect a 46 cm core from a coralline algal (Lithothamnion glaciale) deposit in Loch Sween, Scotland. The core was frozen and sectioned longitudinally and into 2 cm horizons. Coralline algae from each horizon were sectioned along the length of each thallus. Mg, Ca, and Sr were quantified along each thallus using electron microprobe analysis. For the live collected surface specimens, this process enabled absolute dates to be assigned to each year’s growth band present within the coralline algae. Five thalli down core were selected for radiocarbon rangefinder dating at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre. Live thalli and the five rangefinder thalli were used as anchor points in construction of a combined chronology which was fine-tuned using dendrochnological techniques. Twenty seven (including anchors) Mg/Ca time series were available; each from an individual thallus. The work was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.