Researchers use ārobomusselsā to monitor climate change
Tiny robots have been helping researchers study how cliĀmate change affects bioĀdiĀverĀsity. DevelĀoped by NorthĀeastern UniĀverĀsity sciĀenĀtist Brian HelĀmuth, the āroboĀmusĀselsā have the shape, size, and color of actual musĀsels, with miniaĀture built-āāin senĀsors that track temĀperĀaĀtures inside the mussel beds.
For the past 18 years, every 10 to 15 minĀutes, HelĀmuth, proĀfessor in the ColĀlege of SciĀence and the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, and a global research team of 48 sciĀenĀtists have used roboĀmusĀsels to track internal body temĀperĀaĀture, which is deterĀmined by the temĀperĀaĀture of the surĀrounding air or water, and the amount of solar radiĀaĀtion the devices absorb. They place the robots inside mussel beds in oceans around the globe and record temĀperĀaĀtures.
The researchers have built a dataĀbase of nearly two decades worth of data enabling sciĀenĀtists to pinĀpoint areas of unusual warming, interĀvene to help curb damage to vital marine ecosysĀtems, and develop strateĀgies that could preĀvent extincĀtion of cerĀtain species.
Housed at Northeasternās Marine SciĀence Center in Nahant, MassĀaĀchuĀsetts, this largest-āāever dataĀbase is not only a remarkĀable way to track the effects of cliĀmate change, the findĀings can also reveal emerging hotspots so polĀiĀcyĀmakers and sciĀenĀtists can step in and relieve stresĀsors such as eroĀsion and water acidĀiĀfiĀcaĀtion before itās too late.
āThey look exactly like musĀsels but they have little green blinking lights in them,ā says HelĀmuth. āYou basiĀcally pluck out a mussel and then glue the device to the rock right inside the mussel bed. They enable us to link our field obserĀvaĀtions with the physĀiĀoĀlogĀical impact of global cliĀmate change on these ecoĀlogĀiĀcally and ecoĀnomĀiĀcally imporĀtant animals.ā
The research appeared in a new paper pubĀlished Tuesday in the journal SciĀenĀtific Data.
A baromĀeter of cliĀmate change
For ecoĀlogĀical foreĀcasters such as HelĀmuth, musĀsels act as a baromĀeter of cliĀmate change. Thatās because they rely on external sources of heat such as air temĀperĀaĀture and sun expoĀsure for their body heat and thrive, or not, depending on those conĀdiĀtions. Using fieldĀwork along with mathĀeĀmatĀical and comĀpuĀtaĀtional models, HelĀmuth foreĀcasts the patĀterns of growth, reproĀducĀtion, and surĀvival of musĀsels in interĀtidal zones.
Over the years, he and his colĀleagues have found surĀprises: āOur expecĀtaĀtions of where to look for the effects of cliĀmate change in nature are more comĀplex than anticĀiĀpated,ā says HelĀmuth. For example, in an earĀlier paper in the journal SciĀence, his team found that hotspots existed not only at the southern end of the speciesā disĀtriĀbĀuĀtion, in this case, southern CalĀiĀfornia; they also existed at sites up north, in Oregon and WashĀington state.
āThese datasets tell us when and where to look for the effects of cliĀmate change,ā he says. āWithout them we could miss early warning signs of trouble.ā
Read more here.
Provided by Northeastern University
Image credit: Allison Matzelle
