Dataset: Physiological responses of the coral host and associated endosymbionts measured during two experiments testing the effects of acute and chronic thermal stress on the scleractinian coral, Stylophora pistillata

Two experiments were conducted to test the effects of acute (18 h) and chronic (14 d) thermal stress on the scleractinian coral, Stylophora pistillata. A full description of the methodology is detailed in the published manuscript Evensen et al. (2021).

Multiple ramets of 8 Stylophora pistillata genets were used in two experiments: an 18 h acute thermal stress assay using the Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS) and a 14 day chronic heat stress experiment using the Red Sea Simulator (RSS). Experiments were performed in Eilat, Israel in January-February 2019. 

In each experiment, corals were exposed to four temperature treatments (27°C (summer ambient), 29.5°C, 32°C, and 34.5°C), with physiological responses of the coral and symbionts assessed at the end of the thermal stress exposure (T1) and after a period of recovery (T2). This dataset represents the physiological response metrics measured at each time point, for each of the acute (CBASS) and chronic heat (RSS) stress experiments. 

Physiological responses of the coral host and associated endosymbionts were measured at the end of the heating hold (after 6 h in the CBASS and 6-10 days in the RSS), referred to as T1, and after a recovery period (12 h and 3-7 days post-heat stress in the CBASS and  RSS, respectively), referred to as T2. Control/baseline samples were also collected for each genet - a 'field' sample was assessed upon returning from sample collection and a 'T0' sample was assessed after ~ 2 h incubation in the experimental tanks, immediately prior to the start of the experiments, during which time seawater temperatures in the tanks was steadily ramped up from 22°C to 27°C. Experimental tanks were then ramped up to temperature treatments reaching 27°C, 29.5°C, 32°C, and 34.5°C, with each temperature containing two replicate tanks (A and B).

Problem report:
Missing data were samples that were not measured or that are missing due to sample mortality.