1
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Hopper GW, Bucholz JR, DuBose TP, Fogelman KJ, Keogh SM, Kubala ME, Lodato MB, Nichols DH, Sánchez González I, Pfeiffer JM, Stoeckel JA, Lozier JD, Atkinson CL. A trait dataset for freshwater mussels of the United States of America. Sci Data 2023; 10:745. [PMID: 37891169 PMCID: PMC10611710 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02635-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The United States of America has a diverse collection of freshwater mussels comprising 301 species distributed among 59 genera and two families (Margaritiferidae and Unionidae), each having a unique suite of traits. Mussels are among the most imperilled animals and are critical components of their ecosystems, and successful management, conservation and research requires a cohesive and widely accessible data source. Although trait-based analysis for mussels has increased, only a small proportion of traits reflecting mussel diversity in this region has been collated. Decentralized and non-standardized trait information impedes large-scale analysis. Assembling trait data in a synthetic dataset enables comparison across species and lineages and identification of data gaps. We collated data from the primary literature, books, state and federal reports, theses and dissertations, and museum collections into a centralized dataset covering information on taxonomy, morphology, reproductive ecology and life history, fish hosts, habitats, thermal tolerance, geographic distribution, available genetic information, and conservation status. By collating these traits, we aid researchers in assessing variation in mussel traits and modelling ecosystem change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garrett W Hopper
- School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University and Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA.
| | - Jamie R Bucholz
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA
| | - Traci P DuBose
- ORISE Postdoctoral Research Fellow, United States Forest Service, Frankfort, KY, 40601, USA
| | - Kaelyn J Fogelman
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Troy University, Troy, AL, 36082, USA
| | - Sean M Keogh
- Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA
| | - Megan E Kubala
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA
| | - Matthew B Lodato
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA
| | - David H Nichols
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560, USA
| | | | - John M Pfeiffer
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560, USA
| | - James A Stoeckel
- College of Agriculture, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA
| | - Jeffrey D Lozier
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA
| | - Carla L Atkinson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA
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2
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Álvarez-Noriega M, Marrable I, Noonan SHC, Barneche DR, Ortiz JC. Highly conserved thermal performance strategies may limit adaptive potential in corals. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20221703. [PMID: 36629109 PMCID: PMC9832572 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Increasing seawater temperatures are expected to have profound consequences for reef-building corals' physiology. Understanding how demography changes in response to chronic exposure to warming will help forecast how coral communities will respond to climate change. Here, we measure growth rates of coral fragments of four common species, while exposing them to temperatures ranging from 19°C to 31°C for one month to calibrate their thermal-performance curves (TPCs). Our results show that, while there are contrasting differences between species, the shape of the TPCs was remarkably consistent among individuals of the same species. The low variation in thermal sensitivity within species may imply a reduced capacity for rapid adaptive responses to future changes in thermal regimes. Additionally, interspecific differences in thermal responses show a negative relationship between maximum growth and thermal optima, contradicting expectations derived from the classic 'warmer-is-better' hypothesis. Among species, there was a trade-off between current and future growth, whereby most species perform well under current thermal regimes but are susceptible to future increases in temperature. Increases in water temperature with climate change are likely to reduce growth rates, further hampering future coral reef recovery rates and potentially altering community composition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Isabella Marrable
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Queensland 4810, Australia
| | - Sam H. C. Noonan
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Queensland 4810, Australia
| | - Diego R. Barneche
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
- Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Juan C. Ortiz
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Queensland 4810, Australia
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3
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Lopez JW, Allen DC, Vaughn CC. White-tailed deer consumption of emergent macrophytes mediates aquatic-to-terrestrial nutrient flows. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9257. [PMID: 36110886 PMCID: PMC9465632 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Trophic interactions between mobile animals and their food sources often vector resource flows across ecosystem boundaries. However, the quality and quantity of such ecological subsidies may be altered by indirect interactions between seemingly unconnected taxa. We studied whether emergent macrophytes growing at the aquatic–terrestrial interface facilitate multi‐step aquatic‐to‐terrestrial resource flows between streams and terrestrial herbivores. We also explored whether aquatic animal aggregations indirectly promote such resource flows by creating biogeochemical hotspots of nutrient cycling and availability. We tested whether white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in eastern North America vector nutrient fluxes from streams to terrestrial ecosystems by consuming emergent macrophytes (Justicia americana) using isotope and nutrient analyses of fecal samples and motion‐sensing cameras. We also tested whether mussel‐generated biogeochemical hotspots might promote such fluxes by surveying the density and nutrient stoichiometry of J. americana beds growing in association with variable densities of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida). Fecal samples from riparian deer had 3% lower C:N and 20% lower C:P ratios than those in upland habitats. C and N isotopes suggested riparian deer ate both terrestrial and aquatic (J. americana) vegetation, whereas upland deer ate more terrestrial foods. Motion‐sensing cameras showed deer eating J. americana more than twice as frequently at mussel‐generated hotspots than non‐mussel sites. However, mussels were not associated with variation in J. americana growth or N and P content—although N isotopes in J. americana leaves did suggest assimilation of animal‐derived nutrients. Our findings suggest that white‐tailed deer may conduct significant transfers of aquatic‐derived nutrients into terrestrial habitats when they feed on macrophytes and defecate on land. Whether aquatic animal aggregations promote such resource flows by creating biogeochemical hotspots remains unresolved, but the nearly global distributions of the deer family (Cervidae) and of macrophytes suggest that cervid‐driven aquatic‐to‐terrestrial nutrient flows may be widespread and ecologically important.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan W Lopez
- Department of Biology University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma USA.,Oklahoma Biological Survey University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma USA.,Present address: Department of Biological Sciences University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Alabama USA
| | - Daniel C Allen
- Department of Biology University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma USA.,Present address: Department of Ecosystem Science and Management Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania USA
| | - Caryn C Vaughn
- Department of Biology University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma USA.,Oklahoma Biological Survey University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma USA
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4
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Luck K, Ackerman JD. Threats to freshwater mussels: The interactions of water temperature, velocity and total suspended solids on ecophysiology and growth. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 821:153101. [PMID: 35038501 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Revised: 12/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Freshwater unionid mussels are ecosystem engineers that are highly endangered in part because of land-use changes that have altered their habitat and negatively impacted their ecophysiology. The environmental factors that affect mussels do not act alone and may be better understood using a multiple-stressor approach. We examine how changes in water temperature, turbidity (total suspended solids; TSS) and water velocity affected the clearance rates (CR), oxygen consumption rates (OC), and resultant scope for growth (SFG) of Lampsilis siliquoidea in laboratory flow chamber experiments. The CR, OC and SFG of L. siliquoidea increased with acclimation temperature and velocity, and decreased with TSS concentration and acute temperature exposure, although these responses were more complicated when factors were combined. The primary factor affecting CR and OC varied with acclimation temperature, with warmer temperature and high TSS leading to strong declines in clearance rates. A worst-case scenario would involve a summer season where temperatures and TSS loads are above-average, and water velocities are either below- or above- average, which are likely under increased frequencies of storm, flood, or drought events due to climate change. Conservation measures should focus on protecting aquatic systems during these times and also use a multistressor approach to determine how environmental factors interact in efforts to protect and recover freshwater mussel populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten Luck
- Physical Ecology Laboratory, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Josef D Ackerman
- Physical Ecology Laboratory, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
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5
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Hopper GW, Buchanan JK, Sánchez González I, Kubala ME, Bucholz JR, Lodato MB, Lozier JD, Atkinson CL. Little clams with big potential: nutrient release by invasive Corbicula fluminea can exceed co-occurring freshwater mussel (Unionidae) assemblages. Biol Invasions 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-022-02792-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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6
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Higgins E, Parr TB, Vaughn CC. Mussels and Local Conditions Interact to Influence Microbial Communities in Mussel Beds. Front Microbiol 2022; 12:790554. [PMID: 35095802 PMCID: PMC8793333 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.790554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbiomes are increasingly recognized as widespread regulators of function from individual organism to ecosystem scales. However, the manner in which animals influence the structure and function of environmental microbiomes has received considerably less attention. Using a comparative field study, we investigated the relationship between freshwater mussel microbiomes and environmental microbiomes. We used two focal species of unionid mussels, Amblema plicata and Actinonaias ligamentina, with distinct behavioral and physiological characteristics. Mussel microbiomes, those of the shell and biodeposits, were less diverse than both surface and subsurface sediment microbiomes. Mussel abundance was a significant predictor of sediment microbial community composition, but mussel species richness was not. Our data suggest that local habitat conditions which change dynamically along streams, such as discharge, water turnover, and canopy cover, work in tandem to influence environmental microbial community assemblages at discreet rather than landscape scales. Further, mussel burrowing activity and mussel shells may provide habitat for microbial communities critical to nutrient cycling in these systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward Higgins
- Oklahoma Biological Survey and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
- *Correspondence: Edward Higgins,
| | - Thomas B. Parr
- Oklahoma Biological Survey and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
- National Park Service, Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network, Ashland, WI, United States
| | - Caryn C. Vaughn
- Oklahoma Biological Survey and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
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7
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Atkinson CL, van Ee BC, Pfeiffer JM. Evolutionary history drives aspects of stoichiometric niche variation and functional effects within a guild. Ecology 2020; 101:e03100. [PMID: 32443181 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Revised: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Functional traits are characteristics of an organism that represents how it interacts with its environment and can influence the structure and function of ecosystems. Ecological stoichiometry provides a framework to understand ecosystem structure and function by modeling the coupled flow of elements (e.g. carbon [C], nitrogen [N], phosphorus [P]) between consumers and their environment. Animals tend to be homeostatic in their nutrient requirements and preferentially sequester the element in shortest supply relative to demand, and release relatively more of the element in excess. Tissue stoichiometry is an important functional trait that allows for predictions among the elemental composition of animals, their diet, and their waste products, with important effects on the cycling and availability of nutrients in ecosystems. Here, we examined the tissue stoichiometric niches (C:N:P) and nutrient recycling stoichiometries (N:P) of several filter-feeding freshwater mussels in the subfamily Ambleminae. Despite occupying the same functional-feeding group and being restricted to a single subfamily-level radiation, we found that species occupied distinct stoichiometric niches and that these niches varied, in part, as a function of their evolutionary history. The relationship between phylogenetic divergence and functional divergence suggests that evolutionary processes may be shaping niche complementarity and resource partitioning. Tissue and excretion stoichiometry were negatively correlated as predicted by stoichiometric theory. When scaled to the community, higher species richness and phylogenetic diversity resulted in greater functional evenness and reduced functional dispersion. Filter-feeding bivalves are an ecologically important guild in freshwater ecosystems globally, and our study provides a more nuanced view of the stoichiometric niches and ecological functions performed by this phylogenetically and ecologically diverse assemblage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla L Atkinson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 35487, USA
| | - Brian C van Ee
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 35487, USA
| | - John M Pfeiffer
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560, USA
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8
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Terui A, Finlay JC, Hansen AT, Kozarek JL. Quantifying cryptic function loss during community disassembly. J Appl Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Akira Terui
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota Saint Paul MN USA
- Department of Forest Science Graduate School of Agriculture Hokkaido University Sapporo Japan
- Department of Biology University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro NC USA
| | - Jacques C. Finlay
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota Saint Paul MN USA
- St. Anthony Falls Laboratory University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN USA
| | - Amy T. Hansen
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering University of Kansas Lawrence KS USA
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9
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DuBose TP, Atkinson CL, Vaughn CC, Golladay SW. Drought-Induced, Punctuated Loss of Freshwater Mussels Alters Ecosystem Function Across Temporal Scales. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
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10
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Vaughn CC, Hoellein TJ. Bivalve Impacts in Freshwater and Marine Ecosystems. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2018. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110617-062703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Bivalve molluscs are abundant in marine and freshwater ecosystems and perform important ecological functions. Bivalves have epifaunal or infaunal lifestyles but are largely filter feeders that couple the water column and benthos. Bivalve ecology is a large field of study, but few comparisons among aquatic ecosystems or lifestyles have been conducted. Bivalves impact nutrient cycling, create and modify habitat, and affect food webs directly (i.e., prey) and indirectly (i.e., movement of nutrients and energy). Materials accumulated in soft tissue and shells are used as environmental monitors. Freshwater mussel and oyster aggregations in rivers and estuaries are hot spots for biodiversity and biogeochemical transformations. Historically, human use includes food, tools, currency, and ornamentation. Bivalves provide direct benefits to modern cultures as food, building materials, and jewelry and provide indirect benefits by stabilizing shorelines and mitigating nutrient pollution. Research on bivalve-mediated ecological processes is diverse, and future synthesis will require collaboration across conventional disciplinary boundaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caryn C. Vaughn
- Oklahoma Biological Survey and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA
| | - Timothy J. Hoellein
- Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60660, USA
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11
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Hopper GW, Gido KB, Vaughn CC, Parr TB, Popejoy TG, Atkinson CL, Gates KK. Biomass distribution of fishes and mussels mediates spatial and temporal heterogeneity in nutrient cycling in streams. Oecologia 2018; 188:1133-1144. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-018-4277-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2018] [Accepted: 10/14/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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12
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Gallardo B, Aldridge DC. Inter-basin water transfers and the expansion of aquatic invasive species. WATER RESEARCH 2018; 143:282-291. [PMID: 29986238 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.06.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Revised: 06/08/2018] [Accepted: 06/24/2018] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Inter-basin Water Transfers (IBWT) are recognized as one of the major pathways of freshwater invasion. They provide a direct link between previously isolated catchments and may modify the habitat conditions of the receiving waters such that they become more favourable for the establishment of invasive species. Combined, IBWT and invasive species will intensify the stress upon native species and ecosystems. Using the Severn and Thames Rivers -two of the largest river systems in Great Britain-as a case study, here we assess the potential influence of IBWT on the expansion of invasive species and thus their impact on biodiversity conservation. The Thames Valley is subject to extensive water abstraction, and an increasing population means that supplemented flow from the River Severn is being considered. Multi-scale Suitability Models, based on climate and water chemistry respectively, provided novel evidence that there is serious risk for further spread of invasive species in the focus area, particularly of the quagga mussel, a recent invader of the Thames River. Native freshwater mussels are particularly vulnerable to changing environmental conditions, and may suffer the decrease in alkalinity and increase in sedimentation associated with an IBWT from the lower Severn to the upper Thames. Regional models suggest considerable overlap between the areas suitable for three vulnerable native freshwater mussels and the expansion of invasive species that negatively impact upon the native mussels. This study illustrates the use of novel spatially-explicit techniques to help managers make informed decisions about the risks associated with introducing aquatic invasive species under different engineering scenarios. Such information may be especially important under new legislation (e.g. EU Invasive Species Regulation No 1143/2014) which increases the responsibility of water managers to contain and not transfer invasive species into new locations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belinda Gallardo
- Department of Biodiversity and Restoration, Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE-CSIC), Avda. Montañana 1005, 50059, Zaragoza, Spain.
| | - David C Aldridge
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK
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13
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Jeffrey JD, Hannan KD, Hasler CT, Suski CD. Hot and bothered: effects of elevated Pco2 and temperature on juvenile freshwater mussels. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2018; 315:R115-R127. [DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00238.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Multiple environmental stressors may interact in complex ways to exceed or diminish the impacts of individual stressors. In the present study, the interactive effects of two ecologically relevant stressors [increased temperature and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (Pco2)] were assessed for freshwater mussels, a group of organisms that are among the most sensitive and rapidly declining worldwide. The individual and combined effects of elevated temperature (22°C–34°C) and Pco2 (~230, 58,000 µatm) on juvenile Lampsilis siliquoidea were quantified over a 5- or 14-day period, during which physiological and whole animal responses were measured. Exposure to elevated temperature induced a series of physiological responses, including an increase in oxygen consumption rates following 5 days of exposure at 31°C and an increase in carbonic anhydrase ( ca) and heat shock protein 70 mRNA levels following 14 days of exposure at 28°C and 34°C, respectively. Treatment with elevated Pco2 activated acid-base regulatory responses including increases in CA and Na+-K+-ATPase activity and a novel mechanism for acid-base regulation during Pco2 exposure in freshwater mussels was proposed. Thermal and CO2 stressors also interacted such that responses to the thermal stressor were diminished in mussels exposed to elevated Pco2, resulting in the greatest level of mortality. Additionally, larger mussels were more likely to survive treatment with elevated Pco2 and/or temperature. Together, exposure to elevated Pco2 may compromise the ability of juvenile freshwater mussels to respond to additional stressors, such as increased temperatures, highlighting the importance of considering not only the individual but also the interactive effects of multiple environmental stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer D. Jeffrey
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Kelly D. Hannan
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Caleb T. Hasler
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Cory D. Suski
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
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14
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Archambault JM, Cope WG, Kwak TJ. Chasing a changing climate: Reproductive and dispersal traits predict how sessile species respond to global warming. DIVERS DISTRIB 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - W. Gregory Cope
- Department of Applied Ecology; North Carolina State University; Raleigh NC USA
| | - Thomas J. Kwak
- North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; U.S. Geological Survey; Raleigh NC USA
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15
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Blakeslee CJ, Silldorff EL, Galbraith HS. Changes in Freshwater Mussel Communities Linked to Legacy Pollution in the Lower Delaware River. Northeast Nat (Steuben) 2018. [DOI: 10.1656/045.025.0106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carrie J. Blakeslee
- US Geological Survey, Leetown Science Center, Northern Appalachian Research Laboratory, Wellsboro, PA 16901
| | - Erik L. Silldorff
- Delaware River Basin Commission, West Trenton, NJ 08628
- Current address - Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Bristol, PA 19007
| | - Heather S. Galbraith
- US Geological Survey, Leetown Science Center, Northern Appalachian Research Laboratory, Wellsboro, PA 16901
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16
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Consumer Aggregations Drive Nutrient Dynamics and Ecosystem Metabolism in Nutrient-Limited Systems. Ecosystems 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-017-0166-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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17
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Bril JS, Langenfeld K, Just CL, Spak SN, Newton TJ. Simulated mussel mortality thresholds as a function of mussel biomass and nutrient loading. PeerJ 2017; 5:e2838. [PMID: 28070462 PMCID: PMC5217613 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2016] [Accepted: 11/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A freshwater “mussel mortality threshold” was explored as a function of porewater ammonium (NH4+) concentration, mussel biomass, and total nitrogen (N) utilizing a numerical model calibrated with data from mesocosms with and without mussels. A mortality threshold of 2 mg-N L−1 porewater NH4+ was selected based on a study that estimated 100% mortality of juvenile Lampsilis mussels exposed to 1.9 mg-N L−1 NH4+ in equilibrium with 0.18 mg-N L−1 NH3. At the highest simulated mussel biomass (560 g m−2) and the lowest simulated influent water “food” concentration (0.1 mg-N L−1), the porewater NH4+ concentration after a 2,160 h timespan without mussels was 0.5 mg-N L−1 compared to 2.25 mg-N L−1 with mussels. Continuing these simulations while varying mussel biomass and N content yielded a mortality threshold contour that was essentially linear which contradicted the non-linear and non-monotonic relationship suggested by Strayer (2014). Our model suggests that mussels spatially focus nutrients from the overlying water to the sediments as evidenced by elevated porewater NH4+ in mesocosms with mussels. However, our previous work and the model utilized here show elevated concentrations of nitrite and nitrate in overlying waters as an indirect consequence of mussel activity. Even when the simulated overlying water food availability was quite low, the mortality threshold was reached at a mussel biomass of about 480 g m−2. At a food concentration of 10 mg-N L−1, the mortality threshold was reached at a biomass of about 250 g m−2. Our model suggests the mortality threshold for juvenile Lampsilis species could be exceeded at low mussel biomass if exposed for even a short time to the highly elevated total N loadings endemic to the agricultural Midwest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy S Bril
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa , Iowa City , IA , United States
| | - Kathryn Langenfeld
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa , Iowa City , IA , United States
| | - Craig L Just
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa , Iowa City , IA , United States
| | - Scott N Spak
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa , Iowa City , IA , United States
| | - Teresa J Newton
- Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, US Geological Survey , La Crosse , WI , United States
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18
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Lummer EM, Auerswald K, Geist J. Fine sediment as environmental stressor affecting freshwater mussel behavior and ecosystem services. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 571:1340-1348. [PMID: 27422724 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2016] [Revised: 07/04/2016] [Accepted: 07/04/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Fine sediment pollution is considered a major stressor for aquatic ecosystems and their biodiversity. In particular, fine sediments have been suggested to play a crucial role in the declines of freshwater mussels which are considered keystone fauna of streams and rivers. Whereas the effects of deposited fine sediments on recruitment failure are well known, effects of suspended fine sediments on adult mussel behavior are less studied. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of fine sediment exposure on freshwater mussel behavior and on mussel-dependent ecosystem services. Unio pictorum mussels were used to test three behavioral endpoints: Hall activity, transition frequency and relative water clearance rate. Mussels were exposed to fine sediments of different particle size classes (<45μm, 45-63μm, 63-125μm) and different concentration (0-10gL(-1)) of the smallest particle size class. Hall sensor technology and turbidity measurements were used to detect mussel behavior in presence of suspended sediments. Results revealed that mussels improve clearance of suspended particles out of the water column by 35%, independent of particle size class and concentration. Transition frequency was determined an unsuitable behavioral endpoint for non-soluble substances. Contrary to previous studies, we could demonstrate that fine sediments do not interfere with filtration by mussels and that mussels have a great influence on water purification, providing a valuable ecosystem service.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva-Maria Lummer
- Aquatic Systems Biology Unit, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technical University of Munich, Mühlenweg 22, D-85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Karl Auerswald
- Grassland Science, Department of Plant Science, Technical University of Munich, Alte Akademie 12, D-85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Juergen Geist
- Aquatic Systems Biology Unit, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technical University of Munich, Mühlenweg 22, D-85354 Freising, Germany.
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Ismail NS, Tommerdahl JP, Boehm AB, Luthy RG. Escherichia coli Reduction by Bivalves in an Impaired River Impacted by Agricultural Land Use. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2016; 50:11025-11033. [PMID: 27616202 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are leading causes of impaired surface waters. Innovative and environmentally appropriate best management practices are needed to reduce FIB concentrations and associated risk. This study examines the ability of the native freshwater mussel Anodonta californiensis and an invasive freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea to reduce concentrations of the FIB Escherichia coli in natural waters. Laboratory batch experiments were used to show bivalve species-specific E. coli removal capabilities and to develop a relationship between bivalve size and clearance rates. A field survey within an impaired coastal river containing both species of bivalves in an agricultural- and grazing-dominated area of the central coast of California showed a significant inverse correlation between E. coli concentration and bivalve density. An in situ field spiking and sampling study showed filtration by freshwater bivalves resulting in 1-1.5 log10 reduction of E. coli over 24 h, and calculated clearance rates ranged from 1.2 to 7.4 L hr-1 bivalve-1. Results of this study show the importance of freshwater bivalves for improving water quality through the removal of E. coli. While both native and invasive bivalves can reduce E. coli levels, the use of native bivalves through integration into best management practices is recommended as a way to improve water quality and protect and encourage re-establishment of native bivalve species that are in decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niveen S Ismail
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, California 94305, United States
- ReNUWIt Engineering Research Center, Stanford University , 473 Via Ortega, Room 117, Yang & Yamazaki Environment & Energy Building, Standford, California 94305, United States
| | - Jake P Tommerdahl
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, California 94305, United States
- ReNUWIt Engineering Research Center, Stanford University , 473 Via Ortega, Room 117, Yang & Yamazaki Environment & Energy Building, Standford, California 94305, United States
| | - Alexandria B Boehm
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, California 94305, United States
- ReNUWIt Engineering Research Center, Stanford University , 473 Via Ortega, Room 117, Yang & Yamazaki Environment & Energy Building, Standford, California 94305, United States
| | - Richard G Luthy
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University , Stanford, California 94305, United States
- ReNUWIt Engineering Research Center, Stanford University , 473 Via Ortega, Room 117, Yang & Yamazaki Environment & Energy Building, Standford, California 94305, United States
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Schmitz OJ, Rosenblatt AE, Smylie M. Temperature dependence of predation stress and the nutritional ecology of a generalist herbivore. Ecology 2016; 97:3119-3130. [DOI: 10.1002/ecy.1524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2016] [Revised: 05/30/2016] [Accepted: 06/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Oswald J. Schmitz
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Yale University 370 Prospect StreetNew HavenConnecticut 06511USA
| | - Adam E. Rosenblatt
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Yale University 370 Prospect StreetNew HavenConnecticut 06511USA
| | - Meredith Smylie
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Yale University 370 Prospect StreetNew HavenConnecticut 06511USA
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Ford DF, Walters AD, Williams LR, Williams MG, Ford NB. Mussel Assemblages in Streams of Different Sizes in the Neches River Basin of Texas. SOUTHEAST NAT 2016. [DOI: 10.1656/058.015.0103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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22
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Vaughn CC, Atkinson CL, Julian JP. Drought-induced changes in flow regimes lead to long-term losses in mussel-provided ecosystem services. Ecol Evol 2015; 5:1291-305. [PMID: 25859334 PMCID: PMC4377272 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2014] [Revised: 01/29/2015] [Accepted: 01/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Extreme hydro-meteorological events such as droughts are becoming more frequent, intense, and persistent. This is particularly true in the south central USA, where rapidly growing urban areas are running out of water and human-engineered water storage and management are leading to broad-scale changes in flow regimes. The Kiamichi River in southeastern Oklahoma, USA, has high fish and freshwater mussel biodiversity. However, water from this rural river is desired by multiple urban areas and other entities. Freshwater mussels are large, long-lived filter feeders that provide important ecosystem services. We ask how observed changes in mussel biomass and community composition resulting from drought-induced changes in flow regimes might lead to changes in river ecosystem services. We sampled mussel communities in this river over a 20-year period that included two severe droughts. We then used laboratory-derived physiological rates and river-wide estimates of species-specific mussel biomass to estimate three aggregate ecosystem services provided by mussels over this time period: biofiltration, nutrient recycling (nitrogen and phosphorus), and nutrient storage (nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon). Mussel populations declined over 60%, and declines were directly linked to drought-induced changes in flow regimes. All ecosystem services declined over time and mirrored biomass losses. Mussel declines were exacerbated by human water management, which has increased the magnitude and frequency of hydrologic drought in downstream reaches of the river. Freshwater mussels are globally imperiled and declining around the world. Summed across multiple streams and rivers, mussel losses similar to those we document here could have considerable consequences for downstream water quality although lost biofiltration and nutrient retention. While we cannot control the frequency and severity of climatological droughts, water releases from reservoirs could be used to augment stream flows and prevent compounded anthropogenic stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caryn C Vaughn
- Oklahoma Biological Survey, Department of Biology, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program, University of Oklahoma Norman, Oklahoma
| | - Carla L Atkinson
- Oklahoma Biological Survey, Department of Biology, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program, University of Oklahoma Norman, Oklahoma ; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama
| | - Jason P Julian
- Department of Geography, Texas State University San Marcos, Texas
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Feio MJ, Dolédec S, Graça MAS. Human disturbance affects the long-term spatial synchrony of freshwater invertebrate communities. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2015; 196:300-308. [PMID: 25463726 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2014.09.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2014] [Revised: 09/15/2014] [Accepted: 09/29/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Taxonomic and trait composition of invertebrate communities were investigated for 4 reference and 5 disturbed Mediterranean stream sites over a 18 y period, to test the hypotheses that: 1) human disturbance reduces the resilience of communities to extreme climatic events by affecting their functional structure; 2) and as a result, extreme climatic events could lead to asynchronous responses of communities from streams with similar environmental characteristics but differently affected by human disturbance. In reference sites, trait compositions changed differently (were less similar over time) in response to extreme events and variation was less synchronic than taxonomic compositions in the same sites. Oppositely, in disturbed sites there was a marked synchrony in trait composition indicating a functional homogenization in response to human pressures. This limitation in “functional diversity” may involve a lower ability to respond to climatic extreme events and also a reduced potential in ecosystem services.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Feio
- Instituto do Mar-CMA, Dept. of Life Sciences, Apartado 3046, 3001-401 Coimbra, Portugal.
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Transcriptomic profiling of differential responses to drought in two freshwater mussel species, the giant floater Pyganodon grandis and the pondhorn Uniomerus tetralasmus. PLoS One 2014; 9:e89481. [PMID: 24586812 PMCID: PMC3934898 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2013] [Accepted: 01/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The southeastern US has experienced recurrent drought during recent decades. Increasing demand for water, as precipitation decreases, exacerbates stress on the aquatic biota of the Southeast: a global hotspot for freshwater mussel, crayfish, and fish diversity. Freshwater unionid mussels are ideal candidates to study linkages between ecophysiological and behavioral responses to drought. Previous work on co-occurring mussel species suggests a coupling of physiology and behavior along a gradient ranging from intolerant species such as Pyganodon grandis (giant floater) that track receding waters and rarely burrow in the substrates to tolerant species such as Uniomerus tetralasmus (pondhorn) that rarely track receding waters, but readily burrow into the drying sediments. We utilized a next-generation sequencing-based RNA-Seq approach to examine heat/desiccation-induced transcriptomic profiles of these two species in order to identify linkages between patterns of gene expression, physiology and behavior. Sequencing produced over 425 million 100 bp reads. Using the de novo assembly package Trinity, we assembled the short reads into 321,250 contigs from giant floater (average length 835 bp) and 385,735 contigs from pondhorn (average length 929 bp). BLAST-based annotation and gene expression analysis revealed 2,832 differentially expressed genes in giant floater and 2,758 differentially expressed genes in pondhorn. Trancriptomic responses included changes in molecular chaperones, oxidative stress profiles, cell cycling, energy metabolism, immunity, and cytoskeletal rearrangements. Comparative analyses between species indicated significantly higher induction of molecular chaperones and cytoskeletal elements in the intolerant P. grandis as well as important differences in genes regulating apoptosis and immunity.
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Blakeslee CJ, Galbraith HS, Robertson LS, St John White B. The effects of salinity exposure on multiple life stages of a common freshwater mussel, Elliptio complanata. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2013; 32:2849-54. [PMID: 23996680 DOI: 10.1002/etc.2381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2013] [Revised: 05/12/2013] [Accepted: 08/23/2013] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
There is growing concern over the effects of increased salinization on freshwater organisms, which are largely unknown for unionid mussels. Adult and larval Elliptio complanata were exposed to low-level salt concentrations to determine the effects on mussel survival, physiology, and reproduction. Adults were exposed to salt concentrations of 0 parts per thousand (ppt), 2 ppt, 4 ppt, and 6 ppt NaCl and monitored over 7 d for mortality. Treatment groups exposed to 6 ppt and 4 ppt experienced 50% mortality at day 3 and day 4, respectively, with complete mortality by day 7. No mortality was observed in the other treatments. Adults were also exposed to sublethal salinity levels of 1 ppt and 2 ppt NaCl for 4 wk to determine physiological consequences of prolonged salinity exposure. Mussels exposed to 1 ppt and 2 ppt experienced reduced metabolic rates within the first 24 h of exposure that recovered to control levels in the 1-ppt treatment within 7 d. Metabolic recovery did not occur in the 2-ppt treatment by the end of 28 d. Glochidia exposed to 3-ppt NaCl during attachment to their host fish suffered a reduction in attachment success and metamorphosis, resulting in a 10-fold reduction in the number of juveniles produced per host fish. The present study demonstrates that low levels of salt can have a dramatic effect on the reproduction, physiology, and survival of freshwater mussels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie J Blakeslee
- US Geological Survey Leetown Science Center, Northern Appalachian Research Laboratory, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, USA
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Allen DC, Galbraith HS, Vaughn CC, Spooner DE. A tale of two rivers: implications of water management practices for mussel biodiversity outcomes during droughts. AMBIO 2013; 42:881-891. [PMID: 23828311 PMCID: PMC3790130 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-013-0420-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2013] [Revised: 05/01/2013] [Accepted: 06/11/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Droughts often pose situations where stream water levels are lowest while human demand for water is highest. Here we present results of an observational study documenting changes in freshwater mussel communities in two southern US rivers during a multi-year drought. During a 13-year period water releases into the Kiamichi River from an impoundment were halted during droughts, while minimum releases from an impoundment were maintained in the Little River. The Kiamichi observed nearly twice as many low-flow events known to cause mussel mortality than the Little, and regression tree analyses suggest that this difference was influenced by reduced releases. During this period mussel communities in the Kiamichi declined in species richness and abundance, changes that were not observed in the Little. These results suggest that reduced releases during droughts likely led to mussel declines in one river, while maintaining reservoir releases may have sustained mussel populations in another.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel C. Allen
- />Oklahoma Biological Survey and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 USA
- />School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA
| | - Heather S. Galbraith
- />Oklahoma Biological Survey and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 USA
- />United States Geological Survey, Northern Appalachian Research Laboratory, Leetown Science Center, 176 Straight Run Road, Wellsboro, PA 16901 USA
| | - Caryn C. Vaughn
- />Oklahoma Biological Survey and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 USA
| | - Daniel E. Spooner
- />Oklahoma Biological Survey and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 USA
- />United States Geological Survey, Northern Appalachian Research Laboratory, Leetown Science Center, 176 Straight Run Road, Wellsboro, PA 16901 USA
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Spooner DE, Frost PC, Hillebrand H, Arts MT, Puckrin O, Xenopoulos MA. Nutrient loading associated with agriculture land use dampens the importance of consumer-mediated niche construction. Ecol Lett 2013; 16:1115-25. [PMID: 23848507 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2013] [Revised: 05/20/2013] [Accepted: 06/04/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The linkages between biological communities and ecosystem function remain poorly understood along gradients of human-induced stressors. We examined how resource provisioning (nutrient recycling), mediated by native freshwater mussels, influences the structure and function of benthic communities by combining observational data and a field experiment. We compared the following: (1) elemental and community composition (algal pigments and macroinvertebates) on live mussel shells and on nearby rocks across a gradient of catchment agriculture and (2) experimental colonisation of benthic communities on live vs. sham shells controlling for initial community composition and colonisation duration. We show that in near pristine systems, nutrient heterogeneity mediated by mussels relates to greater biodiversity of communities, which supports the notion that resource heterogeneity can foster biological diversity. However, with increased nutrients from the catchment, the relevance of mussel-provisioned nutrients was nearly eliminated. While species can persist in disturbed systems, their functional relevance may be diminished or lost.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E Spooner
- Department of Biology, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, K9J 7B8, Canada.
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29
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Schmitz OJ. Global climate change and the evolutionary ecology of ecosystem functioning. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2013; 1297:61-72. [PMID: 23855531 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Environmental warming due to global climate change is an important stressor that stands to alter organismal physiology and, ultimately, carbon cycling in ecosystems. Yet the theoretical framework for predicting warming effects on whole-ecosystem carbon balance by way of changes in organismal physiology remains rudimentary. This is because ecosystem science has yet to embrace principles of evolutionary ecology that offer the means to explain how environmental stress on organisms mediates ecosystem carbon dynamics. Here, using selected case studies and a theoretical model, I sketch out one framework that shows how increases in animal metabolic rates in response to thermal stress lead to phenotypically plastic shifts in animal elemental demand, from nitrogen-rich proteins that support production to carbon-rich soluble carbohydrates that support elevated energy demands. I further show how such a switch in resource selection alters the fate of carbon between atmospheric versus animal, plant, and soil pools. The framework shows that animals, despite having relatively low biomass representation in ecosystems, can nonetheless have disproportionately larger effects on carbon cycling in ecosystems whose effects are exacerbated by environmental stressors like climate warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oswald J Schmitz
- School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
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30
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Atkinson CL, Vaughn CC, Forshay KJ, Cooper JT. Aggregated filter-feeding consumers alter nutrient limitation: consequences for ecosystem and community dynamics. Ecology 2013; 94:1359-69. [DOI: 10.1890/12-1531.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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31
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Munshaw RG, Palen WJ, Courcelles DM, Finlay JC. Predator-driven nutrient recycling in California stream ecosystems. PLoS One 2013; 8:e58542. [PMID: 23520520 PMCID: PMC3592796 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2012] [Accepted: 02/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Nutrient recycling by consumers in streams can influence ecosystem nutrient availability and the assemblage and growth of photoautotrophs. Stream fishes can play a large role in nutrient recycling, but contributions by other vertebrates to overall recycling rates remain poorly studied. In tributaries of the Pacific Northwest, coastal giant salamanders (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) occur at high densities alongside steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and are top aquatic predators. We surveyed the density and body size distributions of D. tenebrosus and O. mykiss in a California tributary stream, combined with a field study to determine mass-specific excretion rates of ammonium (N) and total dissolved phosphorus (P) for D. tenebrosus. We estimated O. mykiss excretion rates (N, P) by bioenergetics using field-collected data on the nutrient composition of O. mykiss diets from the same system. Despite lower abundance, D. tenebrosus biomass was 2.5 times higher than O. mykiss. Mass-specific excretion summed over 170 m of stream revealed that O. mykiss recycle 1.7 times more N, and 1.2 times more P than D. tenebrosus, and had a higher N:P ratio (8.7) than that of D. tenebrosus (6.0), or the two species combined (7.5). Through simulated trade-offs in biomass, we estimate that shifts from salamander biomass toward fish biomass have the potential to ease nutrient limitation in forested tributary streams. These results suggest that natural and anthropogenic heterogeneity in the relative abundance of these vertebrates and variation in the uptake rates across river networks can affect broad-scale patterns of nutrient limitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin G Munshaw
- Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
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Prather CM, Pelini SL, Laws A, Rivest E, Woltz M, Bloch CP, Del Toro I, Ho CK, Kominoski J, Newbold TAS, Parsons S, Joern A. Invertebrates, ecosystem services and climate change. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2012; 88:327-48. [PMID: 23217156 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 164] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2012] [Revised: 10/20/2012] [Accepted: 11/01/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The sustainability of ecosystem services depends on a firm understanding of both how organisms provide these services to humans and how these organisms will be altered with a changing climate. Unquestionably a dominant feature of most ecosystems, invertebrates affect many ecosystem services and are also highly responsive to climate change. However, there is still a basic lack of understanding of the direct and indirect paths by which invertebrates influence ecosystem services, as well as how climate change will affect those ecosystem services by altering invertebrate populations. This indicates a lack of communication and collaboration among scientists researching ecosystem services and climate change effects on invertebrates, and land managers and researchers from other disciplines, which becomes obvious when systematically reviewing the literature relevant to invertebrates, ecosystem services, and climate change. To address this issue, we review how invertebrates respond to climate change. We then review how invertebrates both positively and negatively influence ecosystem services. Lastly, we provide some critical future directions for research needs, and suggest ways in which managers, scientists and other researchers may collaborate to tackle the complex issue of sustaining invertebrate-mediated services under a changing climate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chelse M Prather
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46637, USA.
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Allen DC, Vaughn CC, Kelly JF, Cooper JT, Engel MH. Bottom-up biodiversity effects increase resource subsidy flux between ecosystems. Ecology 2012. [DOI: 10.1890/11-1541.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Luck GW, Lavorel S, McIntyre S, Lumb K. Improving the application of vertebrate trait-based frameworks to the study of ecosystem services. J Anim Ecol 2012; 81:1065-76. [PMID: 22435774 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2012.01974.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
1. Examining the consequences of environmental change for the provision of ecosystem services can be facilitated through trait-based frameworks that consider linkages between traits that influence a species' response to change and traits that determine its effect on ecosystem services. 2. Developing these frameworks requires a systematic approach to trait selection and addressing the interrelationships among the scale of the environmental change, area of ecosystem service provision and the most appropriate traits for analysis. 3. We examine key issues in the application of trait approaches to vertebrates, drawing specifically on the substantial progress made in this area for plants. We argue that vertebrate ecologists need to develop more coherent and systematic trait-based approaches that are broadly applicable. 4. We present a new framework for selecting response and effect traits to link environmental change with ecosystem services. An empirical example of each step in the framework is provided using birds as a case study, linking the environmental change of loss of tree cover with the ecosystem service of invertebrate pest regulation in apple orchards. We found that as tree cover around orchards increased so did the abundance and foraging rate of bird species that pursue invertebrates in flight, and this may help reduce the abundance of certain pests of apples (e.g. adult stages of Cydia pomonella and Helicoverpa armigera). 5. Implementing a systematic and transparent approach to trait selection should further refine the development of trait-based approaches for vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary W Luck
- Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, PO Box 789, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia.
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35
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Jacob U, Woodward G. Preface. ADV ECOL RES 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-396992-7.09986-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Klunzinger MW, Beatty SJ, Morgan DL, Thomson GJ, Lymbery AJ. Glochidia ecology in wild fish populations and laboratory determination of competent host fishes for an endemic freshwater mussel of south-western Australia. AUST J ZOOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1071/zo12022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Glochidia (parasitic larvae) of freshwater mussels generally require a fish as a host. Westralunio carteri Iredale, 1934 (Bivalvia : Hyriidae), the only freshwater mussel found in south-western Australia, was listed as Vulnerable, but recently changed to Least Concern (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). Glochidia were found on four alien and seven native species of fish from 18 sites in the South West Coast Drainage Division. On alien fishes, prevalence of glochidia ranged from 0.0 to 41.0% and mean intensity (number of glochidia per infested fish) from 1.0 to 6.0, while on native fishes prevalence was 9.2–90.5% and intensity was 2.3–7.1. Glochidia infestation was greatest on benthic fishes, which may be a consequence of greater encounter rates, but other factors, such as host size, probably also influence glochidia prevalence and intensity. Glochidia were generally restricted to fins of infested fish, and were rarely on gills or the body surface. In the laboratory, four native and one alien fish species were found to be competent hosts for their ability to produce juvenile W. carteri, but two alien fish species were not. The inability of some alien fishes to produce juvenile W. carteri could potentially reduce recruitment success in areas dominated by alien fishes.
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37
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Spooner DE, Vaughn CC. Species’ traits and environmental gradients interact to govern primary production in freshwater mussel communities. OIKOS 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.19380.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Spooner DE, Vaughn CC, Galbraith HS. Species traits and environmental conditions govern the relationship between biodiversity effects across trophic levels. Oecologia 2011; 168:533-48. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-011-2110-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2009] [Accepted: 08/12/2011] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Lawrence JE, Lunde KB, Mazor RD, Bêche LA, McElravy EP, Resh VH. Long-term macroinvertebrate responses to climate change: implications for biological assessment in mediterranean-climate streams. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1899/09-178.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Justin E. Lawrence
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3114 USA
| | - Kevin B. Lunde
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3114 USA
| | - Raphael D. Mazor
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3114 USA
| | - Leah A. Bêche
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3114 USA
| | - Eric P. McElravy
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3114 USA
| | - Vincent H. Resh
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3114 USA
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Woodward G, Perkins DM, Brown LE. Climate change and freshwater ecosystems: impacts across multiple levels of organization. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365:2093-106. [PMID: 20513717 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 411] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Fresh waters are particularly vulnerable to climate change because (i) many species within these fragmented habitats have limited abilities to disperse as the environment changes; (ii) water temperature and availability are climate-dependent; and (iii) many systems are already exposed to numerous anthropogenic stressors. Most climate change studies to date have focused on individuals or species populations, rather than the higher levels of organization (i.e. communities, food webs, ecosystems). We propose that an understanding of the connections between these different levels, which are all ultimately based on individuals, can help to develop a more coherent theoretical framework based on metabolic scaling, foraging theory and ecological stoichiometry, to predict the ecological consequences of climate change. For instance, individual basal metabolic rate scales with body size (which also constrains food web structure and dynamics) and temperature (which determines many ecosystem processes and key aspects of foraging behaviour). In addition, increasing atmospheric CO(2) is predicted to alter molar CNP ratios of detrital inputs, which could lead to profound shifts in the stoichiometry of elemental fluxes between consumers and resources at the base of the food web. The different components of climate change (e.g. temperature, hydrology and atmospheric composition) not only affect multiple levels of biological organization, but they may also interact with the many other stressors to which fresh waters are exposed, and future research needs to address these potentially important synergies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy Woodward
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
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Pandolfo TJ, Cope WG, Arellano C, Bringolf RB, Barnhart MC, Hammer E. Upper thermal tolerances of early life stages of freshwater mussels. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1899/09-128.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tamara J. Pandolfo
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7633, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 USA
| | - W. Gregory Cope
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7633, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 USA
| | - Consuelo Arellano
- Department of Statistics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 USA
| | - Robert B. Bringolf
- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602 USA
| | | | - Edward Hammer
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Chicago, Illinois 60604 USA
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Pandolfo TJ, Cope WG, Arellano C. Thermal tolerance of juvenile freshwater mussels (Unionidae) under the added stress of copper. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 2010; 29:691-699. [PMID: 20821496 DOI: 10.1002/etc.92] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Freshwater mussels fulfill an essential role in aquatic communities, but are also one of the most sensitive and rapidly declining faunal groups in North America. Rising water temperatures, caused by global climate change or industrial discharges, can further challenge impaired unionid communities, but thermal stress is almost certainly not the only stressor affecting freshwater mussels. Metals, such as copper (Cu), are a common source of toxicant exposure in aquatic environments. The toxic effects of Cu on the early life stages of freshwater mussels have been well studied, and freshwater mussels are more sensitive to Cu than most aquatic organisms. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of a sublethal copper concentration on the upper thermal tolerance of three species, Lampsilis siliquoidea, Potamilus alatus, and Ligumia recta, of juvenile freshwater mussels in 48- and 96-h tests. Thermal tolerance was determined over a range of experimental temperatures (20-42 degrees C) at three acclimation temperatures (17, 22, and 27 degrees C). Median lethal temperatures (LT50s) were calculated in the absence and presence of Cu, and at 48 h ranged from 34.6 to 44.4 degrees C (mean 37.7 degrees C) without Cu, and from 33.8 to 38.9 degrees C (mean 35.8 degrees C) with Cu. The LT50s at 96 h ranged from 32.5 to 35.6 degrees C (mean 34.5 degrees C) without Cu and from 33.0 to 35.4 degrees C (mean 34.2 degrees C) with Cu. Potamilus alatus had a significantly lower 48 h LT50 with Cu than without Cu at the 22 degrees C acclimation temperature; there were no other significant differences in LT50s attributed to Cu. Survival trends showed limited evidence of interactive effects between copper and temperature for all three species, suggesting the combined stress of elevated temperatures and copper exposure to freshwater mussels should be further explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara J Pandolfo
- Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA.
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Mock KE, Box JCB, Chong JP, Howard JK, Nez DA, Wolf D, Gardner RS. Genetic structuring in the freshwater mussel Anodonta corresponds with major hydrologic basins in the western United States. Mol Ecol 2010; 19:569-91. [PMID: 20070523 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2009.04468.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Freshwater mussels (unionids) are increasingly recognized as important providers of ecosystem services, yet are among the most endangered fauna in the world. Because unionids are generally sessile and require specific fish hosts for development and dispersal, they are particularly vulnerable to habitat degradation. Surprisingly, little is known about the distribution of genetic diversity in freshwater mussels and this gap has a negative impact on taxonomy, monitoring, conservation and ecological research in these species. Here, we focus on western North American Anodonta, one of only three genera known to exist in this broad landscape and which contains three highly divergent lineages. We describe phylogeographical subdivision in the most widespread and diverse of these lineages, which includes Anodonta californiensis and Anodonta nuttalliana and occurs from Canada to Mexico. Using mitochondrial and nuclear data, we found that genetic structuring within this clade is inconsistent with morphologically based species designations, but instead follows patterns of vicariance among major hydrogeologic basins. Furthermore, there was a strong tendency for population diversity within drainage systems to increase downstream, implying greater habitat or host fish availability in this direction. Microsatellite results indicated that sampling locations were all genetically distinct, even at short distances. Many of our sample populations showed evidence of a recent demographic bottleneck, although this effect seemed to be very local and not drainage or basin-specific. This study provides a foundation for the establishment of appropriate management units and future research on adaptive differentiation and host fish relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen E Mock
- Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-5230, USA.
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Vaughn CC. Biodiversity Losses and Ecosystem Function in Freshwaters: Emerging Conclusions and Research Directions. Bioscience 2010. [DOI: 10.1525/bio.2010.60.1.7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 221] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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Pandolfo TJ, Cope WG, Arellano C. Heart rate as a sublethal indicator of thermal stress in juvenile freshwater mussels. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2009; 154:347-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2009.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2009] [Revised: 07/01/2009] [Accepted: 07/06/2009] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Allen DC, Vaughn CC. Burrowing behavior of freshwater mussels in experimentally manipulated communities. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1899/07-170.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel C. Allen
- Oklahoma Biological Survey, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program, and Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019 USA
| | - Caryn C. Vaughn
- Oklahoma Biological Survey, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program, and Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019 USA
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