Department or Program

Environmental Studies

Abstract

The Gulf of Maine (GoM) is warming at a rate faster than 90% of the world’s oceans and has been called a “test bed” of climate impacts. In the Gulf of Maine, the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) has declined by more than 60% over the past 40 years, which previous studies link to thermal stress. Few projects, however, have explored the interactions between local environmental context, mussel ecophysiology, and thermal response. In particular, differential responses to thermal stress above and below the Gulf of Maine’s ‘biogeophysical barrier’ – dividing warmer Gulf Stream currents from colder North Atlantic currents – have not been well documented in the literature. In this study, I collected M. edulis from two northern locations and one southern location in the Gulf of Maine. I conducted thermal ramping experiments and physiological assays in the laboratory to determine the thermal tolerance, energy reserves, and metabolic strategy of M. edulis populations by location and tidal height. Preliminary results suggest that tide height influences thermal envelope, with narrower thermal envelopes in the low intertidal compared to the high intertidal. Assay results also suggest that southern sites had higher total protein and glycogen content than northern populations, while low intertidal mussels had a higher average condition index than high intertidal mussels, regardless of site. These results, while preliminary may allow for the identification of climate change “winners” and “losers” – i.e. which mussel populations will be most negatively affected by warming & acidification.

Level of Access

Open Access

First Advisor

Baumann, Justin

Date of Graduation

5-2026

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Number of Pages

105

Components of Thesis

1 zip file containing: 1 pdf file, 2 html files.

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Open Access

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