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Trait strengthening in mussels.xlsx
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This dataset supports a study examining how microplastic pollution affects the morphological, functional, and behavioral traits of mussels. The research investigated whether plastic pollution has subtle effects beyond direct mortality, potentially weakening mussels' ability to withstand environmental disturbances.
Plastic pollution is ubiquitous with increasing recognition of its direct effects on species’ fitness. Little is known, however, about its more subtle effects, including the influence of plastic pollution on the morphological, functional and behavioural traits of organisms that are central to their ability to withstand disturbances. Among the least obvious but most pernicious forms of plastic-associated pollution are the chemicals that leach from microplastics. Here, we investigate how such leachates influence species’ traits by assessing functional trait compensation across four species of intertidal mussels, through investigations of byssal thread production, movement and aggregation behaviour for mussels held in natural seawater or seawater contaminated by microplastic leachates.Seuront, L., Nicastro, K.R., McQuaid, C.D. and Zardi, G.I., Microplastic leachates induce species‐specific trait strengthening in intertidal mussels. Ecological Applications, p.e2222. https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1002/eap.2222Seuront, Laurent; Nicastro, Katy; McQuaid, Christopher; Zardi, Gerardo (2020), Trait strengthening in mussels, v2, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.905qftthq
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Trait strengthening in mussels.xlsx
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This duplicate dataset supports the same study on microplastic pollution effects on mussel traits, examining how plastic exposure affects the functional resilience of these ecologically important filter feeders.
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This study found that leachates from microplastics — chemicals that dissolved out of the plastic particles — strengthened certain physical traits in intertidal mussels such as shell thickness and byssal thread strength in a species-specific manner. These subtle plastic pollution effects on organism traits could alter ecosystem dynamics even when direct toxicity thresholds are not exceeded.
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