Phys.org publishes UMaine release on blue mussels, ocean acidification
Phys.org published a University of Maine news release about research that suggests blue mussels could be more resilient than other cultivated species to increased ocean acidity and storms predicted to affect the Gulf of Maine as a result of climate change. The research team, which was led by Tim Bowden, an associate professor of aquaculture at UMaine, found that ocean acidification does not appear to affect the strength of the mussels’ byssal threads that anchor them to a substrate. The study, which contradicts similar studies on other mussel species, was conducted in the Ocean Acidification Lab in the Aquaculture Research Center at UMaine, in collaboration with the Advanced Manufacturing Center and with funding from Maine EPSCoR’s Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network (SEANET), according to the release.