Brandy Biggar: Cloudy with a chance of death
Suspended sediment is among the greatest current global threats to coastal ecology. Sediment runoff to the ocean is increasing due to human activities, such as agriculture, deforestation, and mining. Climate change is impacting local weather, with many regions experiencing changes in the frequency and extent of precipitation. Extreme weather, such as cyclones, can increase total suspended solids in the ocean up to 100-fold. This rapid and severe change can negatively affect bivalves, diminishing filter-feeding efficiency, preventing feeding, or burying them. In New Zealand, juvenile green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus) have rudimentary food capture structures, which are prone to clogging and damage. We studied the effects of TSS concentrations on P. canaliculus juvenile survival, growth, and nutritional condition at two time scales (5 and 30 days). Mortality was low and not significantly related to treatment for either time, but growth was positively correlated in both experiments.