In coastal habitats, mussels are exposed to microplastics (MP; plastic 0.1 μm–5 mm) and silt, two abiotic particles that are similarly sized and lack nutrition. The addition of MP or silt may change the functional response of mussels. We measured clearance rate (CR) of Mytilus trossulus in three particle treatments (algae, MP + algae, and silt + algae) across four concentrations to (1) determine if the effects of MP and silt are similar and (2) disentangle the effects of particle type, particle concentration, and proportion of abiotic particles. CR decreased by 62% at high MP concentrations (> 1250 particles mL⁻¹) but was not affected at equivalent silt concentrations. These findings suggest high MP concentrations inhibit mussel CR, more than expected by changes in particle concentration or the proportion of abiotic particles. As plastic production increases, mussel exposure to MP will increase, potentially reducing energy transfer, benthic‐pelagic coupling, and water clarity.

中文翻译：

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微塑料和天然非生物颗粒对海洋贻贝清除率的影响

在沿海生境，贻贝暴露于塑料微粒（MP;塑料0.1 μ M-5毫米），淤泥，被类似尺寸，并且缺乏营养2个非生物颗粒。MP或淤泥的添加可能会改变贻贝的功能反应。我们测量了三种浓度（藻类，MP +藻类和淤泥+藻类）在三种浓度下的Mytilus trossulus的清除率（CR），以（1）确定MP和淤泥的影响是否相似，以及（2）消除影响颗粒类型，颗粒浓度和非生物颗粒的比例。在高MP浓度下（> 1250颗粒mL ^-1， CR降低了62％），但在同等淤泥浓度下不受影响。这些发现表明高MP浓度抑制贻贝CR，超过颗粒浓度或非生物颗粒比例变化所预期的效果。随着塑料产量的增加，贻贝在MP中的暴露量也会增加，可能会减少能量转移，底栖-上层耦合和水的透明度。