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From Bad to Worse: Carryover Effects Alter Responses to Multiple Stressors
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Researchers exposed blue mussels to nanoplastics before testing them against copper, excess nutrients and changing salinity. Mussels pre-exposed to nanoplastics had lower survival and showed stronger combined negative effects from later stressors, suggesting past exposure can change how organisms respond to new environmental pressures.
Abstract Ecological responses to environmental stressors are increasingly shaped by interactions among anthropogenic and climatic drivers, yet the influence of prior exposure history on subsequent stress responses remains poorly integrated into multiple stressor ecology. Using the blue mussel ( Mytilus edulis ) as a model system, we experimentally tested whether prior exposure to environmental nanoplastics modifies responses to subsequent stressors, including copper contamination, nutrient enrichment, and salinity fluctuations, individually and in combination. Nanoplastic pre-exposure reduced survival across subsequent treatments and altered stressor interaction outcomes at the community level, shifting responses toward synergistic effects that amplified metabolic costs. These results demonstrate that exposure history can modify both the magnitude and direction of multi-stressor effects, with consequences extending beyond individual performance to ecosystem functioning. By incorporating temporal exposure dynamics into multiple stressor research, our study highlights how ecological responses to global change depend not only on the identity and intensity of stressors, but also on prior environmental conditions shaping subsequent organismal and ecosystem health status and responses. Open Research Statement The data and R scripts supporting the findings of this study will be deposited in a public repository upon acceptance
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.