Giving Compass' Take:

• This article reports on a new study about mussels that reveals how some species could adapt to acidifying oceans as climate change accelerates.

• What can we do to protect biodiversity with the growing effects of climate change? 

• Here’s how climate change is affecting the species in the Amazon Rainforest.

Researchers found that mussels raised in an acidic experimental environment grew smaller shells than those grown at normal levels, but the overall survival rate of mussels grown under both conditions was the same.

The surviving population in the acidic environment differed genetically from the others, suggesting that genetic variants that already exist in a subset of the natural population of mussels allowed them to adapt to the harsher environment. This could be good news for conservationists and seafood lovers alike, as the mussels find ways to adjust to the changing seas.

THE NEW FINDING “IS SOME GOOD NEWS AMIDST A LOT OF BLEAKNESS.

“The hope is there are already a few individuals in the species that already have some genetic makeup that allows them to withstand the change in the environment,” says Mark Bitter, a graduate student at the University of Chicago. “This effectively allows evolution to work a lot faster if you’re not waiting around for some new mutation to arise.”

The finding offers some hope, though the authors caution it does not promise species will be able to fully withstand the challenges of climate change: pH is just one variable expected to change in the near future.

Read the full article about how mussels respond to climate change by Matt Wood at Futurity.