Our findings (Updated Dec-2019)

Our mussel removal experiments at intertidal platforms fronting eroding cliffs at Playa Copacabana (38°14‘S, 57° 46‘W, Buenos Aires Province, 5 km North of Miramar) indicate that mussel (Brachidontes rodriguezii) beds protects the friable, consolidated silt platforms from weathering and erosion. Mussel cover attenuates variations in platform surface temperatures, enhances moisture retention during low tides, and reduces the rates of salt crystallization within the sediment pores. Mussel removal has also led to 10 % decreases in surface hardness and 2 mm reductions in platform height after 5 months. Collectively, these findings indicate that mussel beds reduce the potential for substrate breakdown via heating-cooling, wetting-drying, and salt crystallization, thus protecting friable platforms from erosion.