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FIND A BUSINESS Enter Category » OR Search By Biz Name, Location » More From The Oregonian Science News Mussel study turns tide on role of warming on coast ecosystem 11/01/02 RICHARD L. HILL A warmer climate may mean bad news for mussels and other organisms that dwell along Oregon and Washington's biologically rich shores, a new study suggests. Advertisement INSIDE News » Business » Columnists » Live Traffic Report » NewsFlash » Obituaries » Opinion » Photo Galleries » Search » Special Reports » Weather » News Index » Win a Traeger Wood Pellet Grill! SPEAK UP! » Town Square » Oregon Forum » Wild Talk » More Forums » Log On to ChatXtra! HomeTown Local News, Links & More! Enter Town or Zip: GO! FROM OUR ADVERTISERS >> Shop Lowe's online for the holidays! >> Save Now!! >> Current Specials: Standard TV & Appliance » Advertise With Us The study's findings, described in today's issue of the journal Science, run counter to the notion that tide pool creatures would be more stressed by rising temperatures in already warm southern waters than in the Pacific Northwest's cooler northern latitudes. But that conventional wisdom doesn't hold water, says Brian Helmuth, a marine biologist at the University of South Carolina who led the study. The problem is that summer's low tides in the Northwest tend to occur in the middle of the day, exposing mussels to high temperatures that can cause them to overheat. Mussels on Southern California's coast during the summer are more protected from the heat because the low tides tend to be at night. "This is one of the surprises of the study," Helmuth said. "The animals are as stressed or more stressed in the summer on the central Oregon coast as they are in Santa Barbara, California. Our study suggests a fundamental shift in where we should look for effects of climate change in a model ecosystem and shows that we cannot focus only on southern sites." Helmuth and his study colleagues said the next three to five years may be especially perilous for Northwest mussels. Low-tide exposure times are expected to increase because of shifts in the moon's orbit, which influences tides, and other factors. "Exposures at northern sites will be the highest they have been in 20 years, and exposure at the southern sites will be the lowest they've been in that time," he said. "So the most likely places that we're going to see effects of climate change in the intertidal zone will be places such as Friday Harbor in Washington and possibly areas of the central Oregon coast." In their study, the researchers recorded temperatures at eight intertidal sites from near Santa Barbara in the south to Tatoosh Island off the northwest tip of Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Oregon sites in the study were at Boiler Bay north of Depoe Bay and at Strawberry Hill south of Yachats. The temperature-monitoring instruments were modified to have similar characteristics -weight, size and color -- as the mussels. "Air temperature is a poor predictor of animal body temperature," Helmuth said, "so we set the instruments directly in the mussel beds to get the same temperatures that the animals experience." In the course of a summer day, mussels in Northwest intertidal areas are covered with chilly water at high tides and are exposed to direct sunlight at low tides. "It's amazing what temperature differences they experience," Helmuth said. "We can see increases in temperatures of more than 40 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit in a matter of a couple of hours." Helmuth, who received his doctorate from the University of Washington, emphasized that the study does not provide evidence for or against global warming. "What we're asking is that if climate changes for any reason, whether it be an El Nino or global warming or whatever, where would we see the effects?" The researchers said two large mortality events were observed this past summer, one at Seal Rock between Newport and Waldport, and the other at Friday Harbor. Helmuth said high temperatures were the most likely culprit for the mussel deaths. Jane Lubchenco, a professor of marine biology at Oregon State University who specializes in intertidal zones, called the study's findings significant because they "put to rest the simplistic notion that species at the supposed warmer end of their ranges would be more stressed in a warmer world and would decline, while those at the cooler end would expand their boundaries northward." Lubchenco, who was not one of the study's researchers, said the findings "are likely applicable to other shores around the world. One could look at how the tides interact with the hottest times of the year and make some preliminary guesses about which portions of species' ranges would likely be most at risk." Helmuth said the study sites would continue to be monitored, with new sites added in Alaska. Other researchers involved in the study included Christopher Harley of the University of Washington and Stanford University; Patricia Halpin of Oregon State University and the University of California at Santa Barbara; Michael O'Donnell of Stanford; and Gretchen Hofmann and Carol Blanchette of UC Santa Barbara. Funding for the study came from the National Science Foundation and National Geographic. Helmuth credited the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans based at OSU and three other universities for providing "critical" logistical support. Richard L. Hill: 503-221-8238; [email protected] » Send This Page | » Print This Page MORE SCIENCE NEWS » BRIEFLY » Chemical suspected as danger to nerves » Research Notebook More Stories | 30 -Day Archive | Complete News index MORE FROM THE OREGONIAN Latest News | The Oregonian Links & Archives User Agreement | Privacy Policy | Help/Feedback | Advertise With Us © 2002 OregonLive.com. All Rights Reserved.