Growth, respiration and mortality rates of live L. pertusa under gradually amplifying acidification and warming increments and consequences for dissolution and bioerosion of dead coral framework

• Main Authors: Büscher, Janina, Form, Armin, Wisshak, Max, Kiko, Rainer, Riebesell, Ulf
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2022
• Subjects: BIOACID; Bioerosion; Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification; Calcification/Dissolution; cold-water coral; Deep Atlantic; global warming; Metabolic rate; Ocean acidification; Lophelia pertusa
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.947285; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.947285

In a 13-months laboratory experiment conducted in 2014/2015, the interactive effects of gradually increasing temperature and pCO2 levels on survival, growth and respiration of two prominent colour morphotypes (white and orange) of the framework-forming cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (also known as Desmophyllum pertusum), as well as bioerosion and dissolution of dead coral framework were assessed. In six-week intervals, three treatments (T1: acidification, T2: warming, T3: combined acidification and warming) were gradually increased in their respective manipulated parameters by 1°C and/or 200 µatm pCO2 after an initial two intervals under ambient (near in-situ) conditions. Each treatment consisted of 7 replicates that were manipulated over the course of the experiment and 3 control replicates that remained at ambient conditions throughout the entire duration of the experiment. Each replicate tank consisted of one live coral fragment of the white morphotype, one fragment of the orange morphotype and one dead framework fragment (naturally bioeroded framework material). Dead framework was examined with regard to attached bioeroders and calcifying organisms, the latter being removed prior to the experiment. All coral samples were collected from an inshore Norwegian cold-water coral habitat in the outer Trondheim-Fjord near Nord-Leksa (63°36.4'N, 09°22.7'E) between 150 to 230 m water depth using the manned submersible JAGO (GEOMAR, 2017; doi:10.17815/jlsrf-3-157) during RV POSEIDON (GEOMAR, 2015; doi:10.17815/jlsrf-1-62) cruise POS455 in June/July 2013. In situ conditions at the time of sampling near the corals were 7.7°C in temperature, 35.2 in salinity and ~6 mL/L oxygen concentration. Prior to the experiment, corals were kept in a closed recirculating system of 1,700 L in a climate-controlled laboratory facility at GEOMAR in Kiel at near in situ conditions of temperature and salinity (7.8 145 ± 0.2 °C and 35.8 ± 0.6) for half a year. Calcification/dissolution rates of live corals and bioerosion/dissolution rates ...