Physiological and environmental data of a reciprocal transplantation experiment with the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus in Comau Fjord, Chile

Between September 2016 and August 2017, we conducted year-long reciprocal transplantation experiments using the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus along natural oceanographic horizontal and vertical gradients (vertically: 20 m to 300 m depth and horizontally: head to mouth of fjord) in Comau Fjord to study its acclimatisation potential to changing environmental conditions. Seasonal calcification, respiration and tissue biomass of native and novel (cross-transplanted) corals were determined at six shallow (A-F, 20 m) and one deep station (Ed, 300 m) during autral summer (January), autumn (May) and winter (August). Temperature was measured continuously at each of the coral stations using TidbiT temperature loggers, and CTD casts and discrete water samples were taken once per season. In addition, temperature and salinity were measured continuously with a CTD at another station (X).