Title: Effects of Climate Crisis on Marine Ecosystem: Mass Mortality Event of the Mediterranean Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) in the Middle Adriatic
Abstract:The effects of the climate crisis are affecting ecosystems at different scales and magnitudes. This paper focuses on a massive Mediterranean mussel die-off observed along the middle Italian Adriatic c...The effects of the climate crisis are affecting ecosystems at different scales and magnitudes. This paper focuses on a massive Mediterranean mussel die-off observed along the middle Italian Adriatic coast in the summer of 2022. We considered the possible environmental causes of this phenomenon and carried out a climatic analysis of the last decades and in detail of recent summers. We performed field surveys in different locations along a 16 Km coastal stretch (from Martinsicuro (TE) on the South, to Grottammare (AP) on the North). The study area includes two marine Sites of Community Importance under the European Natura 2000 network. The mussels die-off has in-terested practically all the natural mussel-beds colonizing the study area. Mussels are sessile fil-ter-feeding organisms inhabiting the intertidal zone, therefore, are highly exposed to variations in environmental conditions such as temperature and nutrient load. We discuss the possible causes of this die-off, proposing that high temperature and the scarce availability of food acted simulta-neously as stress factors, generating local unsustainable living conditions for this species.Read More