Project title
Multiple Stressors in Estuarine Environments: Investigating Declines in Bivalve Shellfish
Project abstract
Wild blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) beds across northern Europe are experiencing declines, but we do not fully understand the drivers behind them. Mussels in industrialised estuaries face multiple stressors at once, from emerging contaminants to increasingly unpredictable climate conditions, and the aim of my research is to explore how these stressors interact on physiological endpoints across the life history of M. edulis. I use chemical analysis instruments (Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry and Inductively Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectroscopy) to quantify contaminant accumulation in adult tissues from Scottish mussel beds. Through exposure experiments I am testing how warming and changes in salinity can amplify or alter effects of environmental pollution mixtures on oxidative stress in adult mussels and development in early life stages. This work will improve predictions of future mussel declines and guide conservation and restoration of these vital estuarine species.