The Mytilobs network datasets

The Mytilobs network, carried out by IFREMER (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea), is a national network dedicated to building long-term physiological variations time series of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis), across a large spatial scale. This observation network, initially designed to survey production yields, also provides valuable data to track environmental variations of coastal ecosystems. Mussels exhibit high phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental variations. Collection of data describing phenotypic variations, over an extended period, reveals small-scale climate and habitat variations. With its broad deployment across time and space, the data produced under Mytilobs will be useful for the establishment of a baseline condition when studying the effect of a perturbation affecting an ecosystem’s functioning. Finally, the monitoring of mussel biometric traits and mortality was coupled with high-frequency measurements of salinity, temperature, and sea level, complementing this multi-layer observational framework.