FIGURE 5 The above ternary plot shows the percentage score for the reported interactive effect (Synergistic, Antagonistic, Additive) corresponding to the different mp th rea ros Krishna et al. 10.3389/fmars.2024.1481734of traits are affected by the combination of OA and Temp stressors in bivalves, including ?tness, defense, abundance, and metabolism (Figure 8). Likewise in ?sh species, Temp, OA and Sal stressors affect a broad range of traits. For seagrass, the combinations of eutrophication, warming, and salinity stress are equally critical, affecting their growth and metabolism (Figure 8). As bivalves and phytoplankton are the most studied taxonomic groups, we investigated which combinations of stressors are most likely to generate synergistic responses. We identi?ed them by a fuzzy coding stressor combinations (Metal & Nut, OA & Metal, OA & Nut, Temp & Metal, Te score (0 to 100%) for the synergistic effect increases towards the left vertex of antagonistic (the green lines) and the additive (the red corner lines) effects inc stressor abbreviations see Figure 4. The effects shown here are aggregated acapproach, where stressor combinations were given scores for Breakdown of most studied stressors at species-level (A) and at community- Frontiers in Marine Science 064 Discussion 4.1 Critical stressor combinations foracidi?cation (Temp and OA) stressor pair got the highest score for bivalves (Figure 8), indicating that the combination of warming and ocean acidi?cation is likely to synergistically affect their physiological rates. & Nut, Temp & OA) that are indicated by the colors of solid circles. The e triangle as indicated by the blue corner lines. Likewise, the scores for the se towards the right and top vertexes, respectively. For an explanation of the s species, community and ecosystem levels in coastal environments.coastal food webs synergism. For phytoplankton, the metal-nutrient (Metal and Nut) combination got the highest score (Figure 8), as exposure to nutrient and metal pollution typically instigates synergistic responses at the physiological level in autotrophs. Likewise, the temperature- We identi?ed climate warming, OA, eutrophication, and metal pollution as the most critical stressor combinations for coastal ecosystems. All of these stressors directly follow human activities on FIGURE 6level (B). frontiersin.org