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Large Projected Population Loss of a Salt Marsh Bivalve (Geukensia demissa) from Sea Level Rise

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Abstract

Salt marshes and their inhabitants are being displaced by climate change and human development along the coastline. One inhabitant, the ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa), forms a mutualistic relationship with smooth cordgrass, Sporobolus alterniflorus, along the US Atlantic Coast. Ribbed mussels stabilize the marsh, remove particulate matter from the water column, and promote denitrification, thereby improving local water quality. To quantify the potential effects of SLR on ribbed mussel abundance and resulting impacts on water quality functions, we compared the current and projected future (2050) spatial distributions of ribbed mussels in Chesapeake Bay assuming an intermediate SLR for the region. We found that ribbed mussel abundance was reduced by more than half due to a combination of drowning marshes, coastal squeeze, and a shift from higher to lower quality habitat. Mussel losses were greatest along the mainstem of the Chesapeake Bay, with modest gains in the headwaters. Our results highlight the importance of permeable land cover (including living shorelines) in the future tidal extent to promote marsh transgression for future mussel populations. The projected mussel abundance reductions will result in a > 50% reduction in mussel-mediated filtration and nitrogen processing, ultimately reducing the resilience of marshes in the system.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Julie Herman and Molly Mitchell for providing the projections of marsh extent in 2050. This manuscript was much improved by the insightful comments of Roger Mann, Megan La Peyre, Randolph Chambers, Matthias Leu, Taryn Sudol, Linda Blum, and two anonymous reviewers. Funding for this project was provided by the Office of the Associate Dean of Academic Studies at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and NSF Coastal SEES award #1600131. This paper is Contribution No. 3926 of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary.

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  1. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary, Gloucester Point, VA, 23062, USA

    Robert E. Isdell, Donna M. Bilkovic & Carlton Hershner

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  1. Robert E. Isdell
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  2. Donna M. Bilkovic
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Correspondence to Robert E. Isdell.

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Isdell, R.E., Bilkovic, D.M. & Hershner, C. Large Projected Population Loss of a Salt Marsh Bivalve (Geukensia demissa) from Sea Level Rise. Wetlands 40, 1729–1738 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-020-01384-4

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