Mussels are the best ecosystem engineers

As sea levels rise, coastal ecosystems are faced with changing conditions and must adapt and evolve to survive. A new study by the Carbon Containment Lab at the Yale School of the Environment suggests that faunal organisms, like mussels, are important for protecting and building coastal ecosystems, but are often underappreciated. The study focused on the expansive salt marsh systems in the U.S. that cover around 750,000 acres. These marsh systems are located in the South Atlantic Bight, which is a region that stretches over 150 miles from Cape Fear, North Carolina to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Mussels are considered as indicators of water quality, as they help to keep streams and rivers clean by absorbing heavy metals and filtering harmful silt and particulates while they feed and breathe in aquatic ecosystems. Apart from filtering water, mussels also provide habitat and nesting sites for insects, small fish, and plants through their shells. Additionally, their feeding process results in the deposition of large volumes of material on marsh surfaces, which helps to promote the growth of marshes through a process called accretion.

The researchers led by Sinéad Crotty, associate director of science at the CC Lab, not only took measurements across seasons and tidal phases but also conducted three experiments to test the impact of mussels on accretion. The largest experiment involved manually moving over 200,000 mussels from one landscape to another and measuring changes in marsh elevation over three years. The study found that the effects of mussels on accretion were far greater than what was predicted by models, and occurred at large, landscape scales.

The study provides new insight into the mechanisms by which coastal ecosystems can cope with sea-level rise. The study suggests that faunal organisms, such as mussels, play an important role in protecting and building coastal ecosystems, and more efforts should be done for their protection.

Source: phys.org