NSF Award
2400365
Non-Technical Abstract: The Atlantic bay scallop is an important coastal species of economic and cultural significance that has declined by approximately 90% over the past few decades across the US Atlantic coast. Previous losses at specific sites have been linked to harmful algal blooms (HABs), habitat loss, and a variety of other factors including recent heatwaves, but the role of climatic warming as a potential driver or co-driver of the broad declines is not known. This project is investigating the impacts of climate warming on this iconic species, and the data generated by the research team will ultimately inform decision makers on the most efficient pathways to protect or recover bay scallops in their regions. Additionally, this project leverages the capacity of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Department of Fine Arts to provide an internship for a semester-long student creative sequential art such as graphic storytelling project. The results will be permanently displayed at the UMES Coastal Ecology Center to educate community members, including K-12 students, about the history and current plight of the bay scallops as well as the project’s findings.<br/><br/>Technical Abstract: This Research Initiation Award project quantifies the past and present impacts of warming temperatures—and their interactions with reproduction and co-stressors—on the vulnerability and sustainability of the Atlantic bay scallop Argopecten irradians across its geographic distribution. Specifically, the research activities test the hypotheses that (1) warming has contributed to broad declines of A. irradians over decadal timescales, (2) summer spawning reduces the capacity of adults to tolerate temperature stress, and (3) the spawning phenology of A. irradians is critical to population sustainability under elevated temperatures. The principal investigator, in collaboration with graduate and undergraduate students, is analyzing 75 years of fisheries records and reports of A. irradians declines alongside long-term/high-frequency temperature records to assess their associations (aim 1), conducting a set of laboratory experiments to quantify the impact of reproductive stage on physiological responses to temperature stress (aim 2), and monitoring survivability, spawning, and stress responses of bay scallops in a field setting under elevated temperature to evaluate the outcomes in relation to the timing of broadcast spawning (aim 3). Analysis across a wide spectrum of spatiotemporal scales has the potential to reveal new thresholds, patterns, and/or mechanisms at play. Once the past and present impacts of warming are synthesized across molecular- to population-scales, methods aimed at increasing climate resilience through selective breeding, identifying refugia, mitigating co-stressors, restoration, or conservation aquaculture, can be strategically assessed.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
