Abstract:

Health rating data from multi-stressor experiments to assess the effects of variation in pH, temperature, and oil/dispersant exposures and their interactions. Four separate experiments exposing Lophelia pertusa coral colonies to various environmental conditions (pH: 7.6 & temp: 8C, pH: 7.9 & temp: 8C, pH: 7.6 & temp: 12C, pH: 7.9 & temp: 12C) and hydrocarbon exposure (oil only, dispersant (Corexit 9500) only, oil and dispersant combined) were performed. This dataset supports the publication: Weinnig, Alexis M., Carlos E. Gómez, Adam Hallaj, and Erik E. Cordes. 2020. Cold-water coral (Lophelia pertusa) response to multiple stressors: High temperature affects recovery from short-term pollution exposure. Scientific Reports, 10(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-58556-9

Suggested Citation:

Weinnig, Alexis. 2021. Lophelia pertusa coral multi-stressor health rating results with changes in exposure to oil, dispersants, pH, and temperature. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/n7-tm8n-zt78

Publications:

Weinnig, A. M., Gómez, C. E., Hallaj, A., & Cordes, E. E. (2020). Cold-water coral (Lophelia pertusa) response to multiple stressors: High temperature affects recovery from short-term pollution exposure. Scientific Reports, 10(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-58556-9

Purpose:

The purpose of the experiment was to assess the effects of variation in pH, temperature, and oil/dispersant exposures and their interactions on corals.

Data Parameters and Units:

Dataset consists of an Excel file that details the results of the experiments, photos and readme files that describe experimental protocol. The headers are Oil Exposure Experiment; Number of Polyps w Tissue; Polyp; Tentacles; Filaments; Mucus Discharge; Tissue Health; Average Health Rating; Treatment Average

Methods:

Each sample was photographed and monitored for signs of stress at the four time intervals during the experiment. The four main factors contributing to the health rating were tentacle extension, filament extension, mucus discharge, and tissue health. Tentacle extension is a proxy for how active the polyps are, with a higher proportion of extended and active tentacles corresponding to healthier polyps. Corals have filaments that line the mesenteries inside each polyp, where digestion and gametogenesis take place. When a polyp is under stress it extrudes these mesenteries filaments outside the mouth of the polyp, therefore a greater number of filaments visible and protruding corresponds to a lower health rating. Another common stress response for a coral is to increase the amount of mucus discharge to the point where it can produce long mucous trails, which corresponds to the lowest health rating in this study. The final factor, tissue health, refers to the discoloration and detachment from the skeleton, indicating a lower health rating. Each factor was scored (0-5) by three independent observers and then the average of all the factors determined the final health rating for each nubbin at each time interval.

Individual Files: