Projekt BivalveSPEECH

The BivalveSPEECH project uses bivalve shells to document changes in marine climate variability by applying a sclerochronological approach. It combines environmental observations and modelling with analysis of shell growth patterns and shell geochemistry along an extended time scale, from the Neolithic to the far future.

The main target species are commercially important bivalves – the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) and sampling will be conducted at archaeological sites and bivalve aquaculture farms along the eastern Adriatic Sea. Shell growth patterns will be analysed from acetate peel replicas of shell cross sections and variations in shell microstructures, while oxygen (δ¹⁸O), carbon (δ¹³C), and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ ¹⁵N) will be analysed in shell carbonate material. Obtained shell data will be related to water chemistry data, high-resolution temperature and salinity environmental observations and modelling, and climate projections.

The BivalveSPEECH project will result in a robust reconstruction of past environmental conditions and variations in bivalve growth seasonality. It will contribute to our understanding of long-term changes in marine ecosystems and their health and will provide important data for sustainable management of bivalve aquaculture in coastal areas in present and future climate conditions.