Intertidal mussel–symbiont associations act as CO2 sinks during daily emersion

[Geoengineering News]

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0498

Authors: Nicolas Spilmont; Gerardo I. Zardi 

26 November 2025

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0498

Abstract

Human activities have disrupted the global carbon cycle, reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) uptake by tidal wetlands and submerged vegetation. This exacerbates climate challenges, including rising temperatures and ocean acidification. Coastal systems such as mangroves and seagrasses serve as key carbon sinks, promising for CO₂ removal (CDR). Growing attention is being given to bivalves, whose calcification and reef-building activities shape coastal carbon dynamics. Most studies reduce bivalve impacts to a balance between individual CO₂ emissions and the carbon stored in their shells and tissues, often overlooking species interactions—such as symbioses—that may modulate carbon fluxes. Here, we examined the mussel–symbiont holobiont using Mytilus edulis under emersion in a controlled chamber to quantify CO₂ exchange. Mussels hosting cyanobacterial symbionts exhibited net atmospheric CO₂ uptake during daily air exposure, a critical phase of the tidal cycle. To evaluate the potential significance at larger ecological scales, we combined laboratory-derived CO₂ uptake data with field-based estimates of symbiont prevalence to model carbon fluxes at the mussel bed scale and compared them with values of established blue carbon systems. This research highlights the importance of species interactions in coastal carbon cycling and underscores the need to incorporate the mussel–symbiont holobiont into CDR models.

Source: The Royal Society Publishing