The tolerance of a keystone ecosystem engineer to extreme heat stress is hampered by microplastic leachates
Biology Letters2024
11 citations
?
Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 60
?
0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Katy R. Nicastro,
Marine Uguen,
Marine Uguen,
Marine Uguen,
Marine Uguen,
Marine Uguen,
Marine Uguen,
Marine Uguen,
Marine Uguen,
Marine Uguen,
Marine Uguen,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Solène Henry,
Solène Henry,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Solène Henry,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Marine Uguen,
Laurent Seuront,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Laurent Seuront,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Laurent Seuront,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Laurent Seuront,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Laurent Seuront,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Solène Henry,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Solène Henry,
Laurent Seuront,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Laurent Seuront,
Solène Henry,
Solène Henry,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Laurent Seuront,
Nicolas Spilmont,
Laurent Seuront,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Laurent Seuront,
Katy R. Nicastro,
Gerardo I. Zardi,
Laurent Seuront,
Laurent Seuront,
Sylvie M. Gaudron
Summary
Researchers found that chemical substances leaching from microplastics significantly reduced the ability of blue mussels to survive extreme heat stress. At 35 degrees Celsius, mussels exposed to leachates from beached plastic pellets had the lowest survival rates, likely because weathered plastics release more toxic additives. This study shows how microplastic pollution and climate change can interact to threaten key marine species, which has cascading effects on coastal ecosystems that humans depend on.
Plastic pollution and ongoing climatic changes exert considerable pressure on coastal ecosystems. Unravelling the combined effects of these two threats is essential to management and conservation actions to reduce the overall environmental risks. We assessed the capacity of a coastal ecosystem engineer, the blue mussel <i>Mytilus edulis</i>, to cope with various levels of aerial heat stress (20, 25, 30 and 35°C) after an exposure to substances leached from beached and virgin low-density polyethylene pellets. Our results revealed a significant interaction between temperature and plastic leachates on mussel survival rates. Specifically, microplastic leachates had no effect on mussel survival at 20, 25 and 30°C. In turn, mussel survival rates significantly decreased at 35°C, and this decrease was even more significant following an exposure to leachates from beached pellets; these pellets had a higher concentration of additives compared to the virgin ones, potentially causing a bioenergetic imbalance. Our results stress the importance of adopting integrated approaches combining the effects of multiple environmental threats on key marine species to understand and mitigate their potential synergistic effects on ecosystem dynamics and resilience in the face of the changing environment.