The marine environment and especially the coastal regions are characterized by high productivity and additionally provide different resources and ecosystem services for humankind. However, these habitats are also subjected to strong environmental factors such as temperature, oxygen deficiency, desiccation or pollution.
In the present work, we investigate the effects of periodic oxygen deficiencies in combination with temperature on the pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas as well as the impact of UV filters on the lugworm Arenicola marina.
Our results show that the oyster can sustain natural fluctuations in oxygen and temperature as found in the intertidal but require metabolic adjustments. However, the combination with extreme situations causes increased mortality.
Further, our studies show that the lugworm is relatively resilient against the UV filter nano-zinc oxide and avobenzone, their combination, however, causes tissue damage.
This study shows that the physiological response of single environmental factors differ from combined factors, and thus, emphasizes the importance of considering environmentally relevant combinations in research.