The response of global marine bivalve lipid quality to climate change drivers: temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and aragonite saturation.

Climate change drivers, including ocean warming, shifts in aragonite saturation, salinity, and dissolved oxygen (DO), are known to affect the nutritional composition of seafood, particularly bivalves. While the impacts of individual drivers have been reviewed, their interactive effects remain unclear. This study employs a systematic literature analysis and data synthesis to examine these interactive effects on bivalve lipids across different geographical regions and bivalve families. Results reveal that bivalves from temperate regions generally exhibit the highest lipid quality, followed by those from subtropical and tropical areas. However, climate change drivers impact each region differently, uniquely affecting the nutritional value of various bivalve families. In tropical regions, where habitats face greater reductions in aragonite saturation and DO, ocean warming is negatively associated with lipid quality. Despite this, mussels and cockles maintain better lipid profiles than clams. Subtropical bivalves experience the greatest warming and salinity declines, where their lipid quality improves with higher salinity, with oysters, cockles, and scallops showing higher lipid quality. In temperate regions, where salinity is also declining, lipid quality is positively influenced by salinity but negatively by temperature, with mussels, scallops, and cockles being the families with higher lipid quality. Crucially, within each region, specific bivalve families are exposed to more extreme changes in their immediate habitats, which shapes their distinct lipid responses. The findings of this study help predict the threat that climate change poses to the future nutritional value of bivalves and provide guidance for selecting suitable aquaculture sites and bivalve families that are more likely to maintain high lipid quality under future climate conditions.