Bivalves are ubiquitous members of freshwater ecosystems and responsible for important functions and services. The present paper revises freshwater bivalve diversity, conservation status and threats at the global scale and discusses future research needs and management actions. The diversity patterns are uneven across the globe with hotspots in the interior basin in the United States of America (USA), Central America, Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Freshwater bivalves are affected by multiple threats that vary across the globe; however, pollution and natural system (habitat) modifications being consistently found as the most impacting. Freshwater bivalves are among the most threatened groups in the world with 40% of the species being near threatened, threatened or extinct, and among them the order Unionida is the most endangered. We suggest that global cooperation between scientists, managers, politicians and general public, and application of new technologies (new generation sequencing and remote sensing, among others) will strengthen the quality of studies on the natural history and conservation of freshwater bivalves. Finally, we introduce the articles published in this special issue of Hydrobiologia under the scope of the Second International Meeting on Biology and Conservation of Freshwater Bivalves held in 2015 in Buffalo, New York, USA. ; This work was supported by FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, Project 3599—Promote the Scientific Production and Technological Development and Thematic 3599-PPCDT by FEDER as part of the project FRESHCO: multiple implications of invasive species on Freshwater Mussel co-extinction processes (Contract: PTDC/AGRFOR/1627/2014). FCT also supported MLL under Grant ...
Freshwater mussels are a critically imperiled group of mollusks that play key ecological roles and provide important services to humans. The Ambleminae is the only subfamily of these mussels, endemic to North America. Complete mitogenomes have only been sequenced for two of five tribes of the subfamily. Pleurobema oviforme, Amblema plicata, and Popenaias popeii each belong to tribes Pleurobemini, Amblemini, and Popenaidini, respectively, and have not had published mitogenomes. Thus, this study aims to present the complete mitogenomes for these species, to provide a phylogeny of the Ambleminae and confirm the gene arrangements with representation from each of its tribes. The newly sequenced mitogenomes range from 15,852 to 15,993 nucleotides, are composed of 13 PCGs, 22 tRNAs, and two rRNAs and all share the same (UF1) gene order. ; This work was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [grant number ConBioMics/BI-Lic/2019-037 (JTT), grant number SFRH/BD/137935/2018 (AGS)]; COMPETE 2020, Portugal 2020 and the European Union through the ERDF, and by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through national funds [UID/Multi/04423/2019] under project ConBiomics: the missing approach for the Conservation of Bivalves Project, and [project number NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER-030286]. Fieldwork in Texas was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) as a Joint Traditional Section 6 Project 407348. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Dreissenid mussels (including the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha and the quagga mussel D. rostriformis) are among the world's most notorious invasive species, with large and widespread ecological and economic effects. However, their long-term population dynamics are poorly known, even though these dynamics are critical to determining impacts and effective management. We gathered and analyzed 67 long-term (>10 yr) data sets on dreissenid populations from lakes and rivers across Europe and North America. We addressed five questions: (1) How do Dreissena populations change through time? (2) Specifi- cally, do Dreissena populations decline substantially after an initial outbreak phase? (3) Do different measures of population performance (biomass or density of settled animals, veliger density, recruitment of young) follow the same patterns through time? (4) How do the numbers or biomass of zebra mussels or of both species combined change after the quagga mussel arrives? (5) How does body size change over time? We also considered whether current data on long-term dynamics of Dreissena populations are adequate for science and management. Individual Dreissena populations showed a wide range of temporal dynamics, but we could detect only two general patterns that applied across many populations: (1) Populations of both species increased rapidly in the first 1-2 yr after appearance, and (2) quagga mussels appeared later than zebra mussels and usually quickly caused large dedines in zebra mussel populations. We found little evidence that combined Dreissena populations declined over the long term. Different measures of population performance were not congruent; the temporal dynamics of one life stage or population attribute cannot generally be accurately inferred from the dynamics of another. We found no consistent patterns in the long-term dynamics of body size. The long-term dynamics of Dreissena populations probably are driven by the ecological characteristics (e.g., predation, nutrient inputs, water temperature) and their temporal changes at individual sites rather than following a generalized time course that applies across many sites. Existing long-term data sets on dreissenid populations, although dearly valuable, are inadequate to meet research and management needs. Data sets could be improved by standardizing sampling designs and methods, routinely collecting more variables, and increasing support. ; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) [JE 288/8-1]; G.E. Hutchinson Chair at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (DLS); NSF-LTREB grants [DEB-1556246]; NSF-OPUS grant [DEB-1456532]; DFG [JE 288/9-1, JE 288/9-2]; USGS [G14AC000263]; US EPA [GL00E01184]; Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station [NYC-0226747]; New York State Department of Environmental Conservation grants; NSF [1517823]; Belarusian Republican Foundation for Fundamental Research; Mercator Fellowship; [TaMOP-4.2.2.A-11/1/KONV-2012-0038]; [GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00019] ; This study is a contribution of the Invasion Dynamics Network (InDyNet), funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; JE 288/8-1) including a Mercator Fellowship to DLS. Additional support came from the G.E. Hutchinson Chair at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (DLS), NSF-LTREB grants (most recently DEB-1556246), and NSF-OPUS grant DEB-1456532 to DLS; DFG projects JE 288/9-1 and JE 288/9-2 to JMJ; TaMOP-4.2.2.A-11/1/KONV-2012-0038 and the GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00019 to CSB and LG-T; USGS G14AC000263 and US EPA GL00E01184 to LEB and AYK; Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station NYC-0226747 and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation grants to LGR and ALH, and NSF grant 1517823 (ALH); and the Belarusian Republican Foundation for Fundamental Research to BA and OM. We thank Krzysztof Lewandowski for his help with data from Polish lakes; Mike Davis, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the Lake Pepin data; Kristen Holeck and Ed Mills for help with Oneida Lake data; the Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection; Ulrike Scharfenberger for her advice on the statistical analyses; Jaclyn McGuire for helping to gather information for the supplementary materials; Maggie Oudsema; and Juergen Geist, other InDyNet members, and Ladd Johnson, Alex Latzka, and Teresa Newton for helpful comments and suggestions. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
