These data were produced in two experimental studies. The first experiment was conducted on September 22, 2018. Over a five-week period, mussel shell-length (mm d-1), mass, and tissue dry weight growth (both mg d-1) were assessed in response to twelve temperature scenarios composed of constant versus daily fluctuating regimes using Kiel Indoor Benthocosms (KIBs). In the second experiment, started on November 20, 2018, filtration (feeding) and respiration rates of different mussel individuals were recorded in seven temporally repeated trials of one-day thermal fluctuations using the Fluorometer and Oximeter-equipped Flow-through Setup (FOFS; Vajedsamiei et al., 2021).
This study investigates the effect of hypersalinity, both alone and in combination with elevated temperature, on the cosmopolitan cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus from the Chilean Fjord region to assess its acclimatization potential to Mediterranean conditions, where the species can also be found. Specimens were collected in Comau Fjord (Chile) and maintained in aquaria at the Alfred Wegener Institute (Germany) in three different treatments for three months: 1) Control with Chilean temperature (11°C) and salinity (31), (2) Chilean salinity with Mediterranean temperature (12°C), and (3) Mediterranean temperature and salinity (12°C and 38, respectively). The growth rate of the corals was investigated at the end of the 35-day acclimatisation pertiod and after 50 days under experimental conditions. The short- and long-term respiration rate of the corals was measured after 3 and 50 days of exposure. Polyp extension rates were determined 5 times per week both in the morning and in the evening.
In a mechanistic investigation of heat stress, heterosis (hybrid vigour), and underlying gene expression patterns, we assessed the thermal performance of inbred (selfings) and outbred (reciprocal crosses) sporophytes of the N-Atlantic kelp Laminaria digitata among clonal isolates from two divergent populations; one from the temperate North Sea (Helgoland) and one from the Arctic (Spitsbergen). First, we investigated the upper thermal tolerance of microscopic sporophytes in a 14-day experiment applying sublethal to lethal 20–23°C. We then subjected 4–7 cm long sporophytes to a control temperature (10°C), moderate (19°C) and sublethal to lethal heat stress (20.5°C) for 18 days to assess the physiological parameters growth and optimum quantum yield.