Study investigates the response of aquatic species to environmental stress factors.
Study investigates the response of aquatic species to environmental stress factors.
Animal populations from urban areas show significantly higher resilience to stressful environmental conditions. This was found by an international team of researchers led by Dr Elizabeta Briski from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany. The mussel and crustacean species studied were able to adapt to disturbed environments, making them more resistant to environmental changes such as climate and land-use change. The study is published today in the journal Ecology Letters.
Urban habitats are very different from natural habitats and pose new challenges for animals and plants. Until now, little was known about how populations of the same species evolve in habitats with and without human influence.
An international team of researchers led by Dr Elizabeta Briski, a marine biologist at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany, has now investigated how conditions in urban areas affect the populations of three aquatic species (one bivalve and two crustaceans). Her study shows that these populations adapt to a disturbed environment and thus become more resilient to environmental change. The results are published today in the journal Ecology Letters.
Read more at Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)
Image: Mussels (Mytilus sp.) were also subjected to a stress test for the study to investigate their adaptability. (Photo Credit: Gregor Steffen, GEOMAR)
