Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docx

<p>Macroplastic items like bags, bottles, and containers dominate marine litter, yet their effects on habitats and ecosystems remain understudied. Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis, Mytilus trossulus) form beds that support biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services. The goal of this wor...

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Main Author: Luisa Kumpitsch (10537266) (author)
Other Authors: Annika Schindel (22442245) (author), Mark Lenz (220774) (author)
Published: 2025
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author Luisa Kumpitsch (10537266)
author2 Annika Schindel (22442245)
Mark Lenz (220774)
author2_role author
author
author_facet Luisa Kumpitsch (10537266)
Annika Schindel (22442245)
Mark Lenz (220774)
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Luisa Kumpitsch (10537266)
Annika Schindel (22442245)
Mark Lenz (220774)
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025-10-16T04:16:42Z
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 10.3389/fmars.2025.1676966.s001
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_Sheet_1_Experimental_exposure_of_blue_mussel_beds_to_soft_and_rigid_macroplastics_in_the_winter_reveals_litter_entrapment_but_no_physiological_effects_docx/30371308
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv CC BY 4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Marine Biology
aggregate
Baltic Sea
blue mussel
macroplastics
marine litter
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docx
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Dataset
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dataset
description <p>Macroplastic items like bags, bottles, and containers dominate marine litter, yet their effects on habitats and ecosystems remain understudied. Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis, Mytilus trossulus) form beds that support biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services. The goal of this work was to investigate in an experiment how planar plastic debris, rigid or soft, influences mussel aggregates with regard to their structure and their physiological performance. Mussel individuals were collected in the Kerteminde Fjord and were transferred to a laboratory where they were allowed to form small aggregates on PVC plates (30 individuals each). During formation, half of the aggregates were polluted with planar plastic litter of a defined type (soft PE bags or rigid fragments of PET bottles) and amount, while the other half remained without incorporated macroplastics. All aggregates were then deployed in the fjord for 14 weeks in the winter 2020/21. Afterwards, we measured the cumulative filtration and respiration rates, filtration-to-respiration ratios, condition indices, growth rates, aggregate rugosities, and byssus strengths. Rigid plastics significantly enhanced aggregate rugosity, while all physiological responses as well as byssus formation remained unchanged. The latter might, at least partly, have been due to the fact that we conducted the experiment in winter, when mussel metabolism is substantially reduced. Notably, soft plastics were often concealed within aggregates, and this was presumably caused by the movements of the mussels. This finding suggests that mussel beds may act as sinks for plastic litter, while soft and film-like litter items can be fully embedded in their three-dimensional matrix.</p>
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
id Manara_eccff1af25cd4ff24d89d19972edca23
identifier_str_mv 10.3389/fmars.2025.1676966.s001
network_acronym_str Manara
network_name_str ManaraRepo
oai_identifier_str oai:figshare.com:article/30371308
publishDate 2025
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository_id_str
rights_invalid_str_mv CC BY 4.0
spelling Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docxLuisa Kumpitsch (10537266)Annika Schindel (22442245)Mark Lenz (220774)Marine BiologyaggregateBaltic Seablue musselmacroplasticsmarine litter<p>Macroplastic items like bags, bottles, and containers dominate marine litter, yet their effects on habitats and ecosystems remain understudied. Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis, Mytilus trossulus) form beds that support biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services. The goal of this work was to investigate in an experiment how planar plastic debris, rigid or soft, influences mussel aggregates with regard to their structure and their physiological performance. Mussel individuals were collected in the Kerteminde Fjord and were transferred to a laboratory where they were allowed to form small aggregates on PVC plates (30 individuals each). During formation, half of the aggregates were polluted with planar plastic litter of a defined type (soft PE bags or rigid fragments of PET bottles) and amount, while the other half remained without incorporated macroplastics. All aggregates were then deployed in the fjord for 14 weeks in the winter 2020/21. Afterwards, we measured the cumulative filtration and respiration rates, filtration-to-respiration ratios, condition indices, growth rates, aggregate rugosities, and byssus strengths. Rigid plastics significantly enhanced aggregate rugosity, while all physiological responses as well as byssus formation remained unchanged. The latter might, at least partly, have been due to the fact that we conducted the experiment in winter, when mussel metabolism is substantially reduced. Notably, soft plastics were often concealed within aggregates, and this was presumably caused by the movements of the mussels. This finding suggests that mussel beds may act as sinks for plastic litter, while soft and film-like litter items can be fully embedded in their three-dimensional matrix.</p>2025-10-16T04:16:42ZDatasetinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiondataset10.3389/fmars.2025.1676966.s001https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_Sheet_1_Experimental_exposure_of_blue_mussel_beds_to_soft_and_rigid_macroplastics_in_the_winter_reveals_litter_entrapment_but_no_physiological_effects_docx/30371308CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/303713082025-10-16T04:16:42Z
spellingShingle Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docx
Luisa Kumpitsch (10537266)
Marine Biology
aggregate
Baltic Sea
blue mussel
macroplastics
marine litter
status_str publishedVersion
title Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docx
title_full Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docx
title_fullStr Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docx
title_full_unstemmed Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docx
title_short Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docx
title_sort Data Sheet 1_Experimental exposure of blue mussel beds to soft and rigid macroplastics in the winter reveals litter entrapment but no physiological effects.docx
topic Marine Biology
aggregate
Baltic Sea
blue mussel
macroplastics
marine litter