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Accurate biological models are critical to predict biotic responses to climate change and human‐caused disturbances. Current understanding of organismal responses to change stems from studies over relatively short timescales. However, most projections lack long‐term observations incorporating the potential for transgenerational phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaption, the keys to resistance. Here, we describe unexpected temporal compensatory responses in biomineralization as a mechanism for resistance to altered environmental conditions and predation impacts in a calcifying foundation species. We evaluated exceptional archival specimens of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis collected regularly between 1904 and 2016 along 15 km of Belgian coastline, along with records of key environmental descriptors and predators. Contrary to global‐scale predictions, shell production increased over the last century, highlighting a protective capacity of mussels for qualitative and quantitative trade‐offs in biomineralization as compensatory responses to altered environments. We also demonstrated the role of changes in predator communities in stimulating unanticipated biological trends that run contrary to experimental predictive models under future climate scenarios. Analysis of archival records has a key role for anticipating emergent impacts of climate change.

Fabricating smooth and contamination-free sub-10 nm thick gold layers on dielectric substrates is of interest for a number of applications, including plasmonics, metamaterials, and nanoelectronics. Metallic adhesion layers are often used to facilitate good adhesion between gold and substrates, but at the cost of interfacial alloying and subsequent deterioration of the optical and electrical properties of the thin films. Another approach for promoting adhesion between gold and SiO 2 substrates is the use of self-assembled organosilane monolayer linkers, such as (3aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS). APTMS, however, is a corrosive chemical, and its monolayer preparation is highly sensitive to ambient conditions. Here, we introduce an easy and fast immersion process using (3-aminopropyl)-silatrane (APS) for achieving smooth and high-purity gold films and compare its performance to APTMS. Our APS recipe is water based, does not require environmental considerations, and has approximately 6 times faster deposition time than APTMS (30 min vs 3 h). The results demonstrate that both organic molecules promote the formation of continuous and smooth 10 nm thick gold films, without leading to considerable chemical intermixing at the interface. Monitoring the growth evolution of the gold layer indicates a threshold thickness of 6−7 nm for obtaining continuous films. Overall, the ease of use, faster processing time and low toxicity of APS make it an attractive choice for fabricating high-quality ultrathin gold films on SiO 2 substrates.

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