Environmental stability and phenotypic plasticity benefit the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus in an acidified fjord

The stratified Chilean Comau Fjord sustains a dense population of the cold-water coral (CWC) Desmophyllum dianthus in aragonite supersaturated shallow and aragonite undersaturated deep water. This provides a rare opportunity to evaluate CWC fitness trade-offs in response to physico-chemical drivers and their variability. Here, we combined year-long reciprocal transplantation experiments along natural oceanographic gradients with an in situ assessment of CWC fitness. Following transplantation, corals acclimated fast to the novel environment with no discernible difference between native and novel (i.e. cross-transplanted) corals, demonstrating high phenotypic plasticity. Surprisingly, corals exposed to lowest aragonite saturation (omega(arag) < 1) and temperature (T < 12.0 degrees C), but stable environmental conditions, at the deep station grew fastest and expressed the fittest phenotype. We found an inverse relationship between CWC fitness and environmental variability and propose to consider the high frequency fluctuations of abiotic and biotic factors to better predict the future of CWCs in a changing ocean. The cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus benefits from stable environmental conditions in deep waters of Comau Fjord (Chile) and is able to acclimatise quickly to new environmental conditions after transplantation.

Automated summary

The cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus in the Comau Fjord of Chile benefits from stable environmental conditions and shows high adaptability to new environments. Additionally, there is an inverse relationship between coral fitness and environmental variability.