Mortality rates from a long-term multiple stressor aquarium experiment with the cold-water coral Desmophyllum pertusum

We conducted a long-term (6 months) multiple driver aquarium experiment under future environmental conditions at St Abbs Marine Station (UK) with the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (syn. Desmophyllum pertusum) sampled from Tisler Reef (Skagerrak). The experiment with live corals 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 (12 °C, pH 7.7, 90 % oxygen, 100 % food availability), 3) multiple stressor with low feeding (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 (treatments 1-4). Mortality rates and numbers of dead vs. live coral polyps were assessed over the full course of the experiment.