Acclimation and acclimatisation of marine ectotherms collected at Rothera Research Station and Scott Base in Antarctica between 2004 and 2015

This data assesses the ability of 8 species, from 7 classes representing a range of functional groups, to survive, for 100 to 303 days, at temperatures 0 to 4 degrees Celsius above previously calculated long-term temperature limits. Survivors were then tested for acclimation responses to acute warming. Acclimatisation in the field was tested in the seastar Odontaster validus collected in different years, seasons and locations within Antarctica. Finally, we tested the importance of oxygen limitation in controlling survival duration by incubating 7 species under normoxia (20%) and mild hyperoxia (30%).

This study was funded by Natural Environment Research Council core funding to the British Antarctic Survey and Spitfire DTP funding to R.E.S.