Beck, Kristina K; Roberts, J Murray; Burns, Zoe; Easton, Blair; Kaye, Sarah; Peña Fernández, Marta; Wolfram, Uwe; Hennige, Sebastian: Physiological and skeletal dissolution data of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa from a multiple driver experiment [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.979869 (dataset in review)

We conducted a long-term (12 months) multiple driver aquarium experiment with the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (syn. Desmophyllum pertusum) under future environmental conditions. The experiment consisted of four different treatments to investigate the combined effect of ocean acidification, warming, deoxygenation and food limitation on their physiology: 1) control (9 °C, pH 8.1, 100 % oxygen, 100 % food availability), 2) multiple stressor with high feeding (HF; 12 °C, pH 7.7, 90 % oxygen, 100 % food availability), 3) multiple stressor with low feeding (LF; 12 °C, pH 7.7, 90 % oxygen, 50 % food availability) and 4) reduced oxygen (9 °C, pH 8.1, 90 % oxygen, 100 % food availability). Every treatment consisted of three replicate tanks with four live corals (12 in total). Water parameters (temperature, salinity, pH and oxygen concentration) were measured five times per week in every coral tank. Total alkalinity (TA) samples were taken from every coral tank biweekly in order to determine the whole carbonate system using the programme CO2SYS. The physiological parameters (survival, growth and respiration rate) were determined after 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6, 7.5, 9, 10.5 and 12 months of the experiment. Growth rates were measured using the buoyant weighing technique (Jokiel et al. 1978) and respiration rates were conducted using closed-cell incubations. In addition, the energetic reserves (protein, carbohydrate and lipid concentration) of six coral samples per treatment were analysed after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. In addition to the live corals, ten dead corallites in the control and multiple driver HF treatments were used to investigate the combined effect of ocean acidification, warming and deoxygenation on their skeletal dissolution. The dead corallites were analysed using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.