Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T15:45:27.688Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Massive die-offs of freshwater bivalves as resource pulses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2012

Ronaldo Sousa ,
Simone Varandas ,
Rui Cortes ,
Amílcar Teixeira ,
Manuel Lopes-Lima ,
Jorge Machado  and
Lúcia Guilhermino
Ronaldo Sousa*
Affiliation:
CBMA – Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal CIMAR-LA/CIIMAR – Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology and Ecology, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal
Simone Varandas
Affiliation:
Forestry Department, CITAB-UTAD – Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environment and Biological Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Apartado 1013, 5001-811 Vila Real, Portugal
Rui Cortes
Affiliation:
Forestry Department, CITAB-UTAD – Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environment and Biological Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Apartado 1013, 5001-811 Vila Real, Portugal
Amílcar Teixeira
Affiliation:
CIMO-ESA-IPB – Mountain Research Centre, School of Agriculture, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, Apartado 1172, 5301-854 Bragança, Portugal
Manuel Lopes-Lima
Affiliation:
CIMAR-LA/CIIMAR – Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology and Ecology, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal ICBAS – Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Largo Prof. Abel Salazar, 2, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal
Jorge Machado
Affiliation:
CIMAR-LA/CIIMAR – Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology and Ecology, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal ICBAS – Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Largo Prof. Abel Salazar, 2, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal
Lúcia Guilhermino
Affiliation:
CIMAR-LA/CIIMAR – Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology and Ecology, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal ICBAS – Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Largo Prof. Abel Salazar, 2, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The winter of 2009/2010 was particularly severe in Northern Portugal resulting in higher river flow levels. A study was undertaken to assess the impact of this situation on several populations of freshwater bivalves (e.g., Anodonta anatina, Corbicula fluminea, Margaritifera margaritifera, Potomida littoralis and Unio delphinus) in the catchments of the Rivers Minho, Douro, Tâmega, Tua and Sabor. Massive die-offs occurred for all species in all rivers, resulting in the removal of great numbers and biomass from the riverbed to the adjacent riverbanks, reaching maximum values of 2280 individuals.m−2 and 10 225 g wet weight.m−2, respectively. The invasive Asian clam C. fluminea had both highest density and biomass (however, this invasive bivalve is not dominant in several surveyed sites, and some rivers are still not colonized by this species). Results show that the quantitative and qualitative importance of this carrion transfer to the riverbank should be incorporated in future studies on the assessment of ecosystem function, contributing to a better understanding of the role of freshwater bivalves as resource pulses in adjacent terrestrial habitats. Some of the affected species have conservational importance and these extreme climatic events are predicted to increase in the future. These massive die-off events should be incorporated into management plans and selected restoration measures such as rapid relocation of endangered native mussels back to the riverbed can be easily applied to lessen possible impacts.

Keywords

Corbicula flumineaecosystem functioningfloodsresource pulsesunionoid mussels
Type
Research Article
Information
Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , 2012 , pp. 105 - 112
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adis, J. and Junk, W.J., 2002. Terrestrial invertebrates inhabiting lowland river floodplains of Central Amazonia and Central Europe: a review. Freshw. Biol., 47, 711–731.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, W.B., Wait, D.A. and Stapp, P., 2008. Resources from another place and time: responses to pulses in a spatially subsidized system. Ecology, 89, 660–670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baxter, C.V., Fausch, K.D. and Saunders, W.C., 2005. Tangled webs: reciprocal flows of invertebrate prey link streams and riparian zones. Freshw. Biol., 50, 201–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ben-David, M., Hanley, T.A. and Schell, D.M., 1998. Fertilization of terrestrial vegetation by spawning Pacific salmon: the role of flooding and predator activity. Oikos, 83, 47–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burdon, F.J. and Harding, J.S., 2008. The linkage between riparian predators and aquatic insects across a stream-resource spectrum. Freshw. Biol., 53, 330–346.Google Scholar
Clarke, K.R. and Warwick, R.M., 2001. Change in Marine Communities: An Approach to Statistical Analysis and Interpretation (2nd edn,), PRIMER-E Ltd, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth.Google Scholar
Dodds, W.K., 2002. Freshwater Ecology: Concepts and Environmental Applications. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Gende, S.M., Edwards, R.T., Willson, M.F. and Wipfli, M.S., 2002. Pacific salmon in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. BioScience, 52, 917–928.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gratton, C. and Vander Zanden, M.J., 2009. Flux of aquatic insect productivity to land: comparison of lentic and lotic ecosystems. Ecology, 90, 2689–2699.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hastie, L.C., Boon, P.J., Young, M.R. and Way, S., 2001. The effects of a major flood on an endangered freshwater mussel population. Biol. Conserv., 98, 107–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helfield, J.M. and Naiman, R.J., 2001. Effects of salmon-derived nitrogen on riparian forest growth and implications for stream productivity. Ecology, 82, 2403–2409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hering, D., Gerhard, M., Manderbach, R. and Reich, M., 2004. Impact of a 100-year flood on vegetation, benthic invertebrates, riparian fauna and large woody debris standing stock in an alpine floodplain. River Res. Appl., 20, 445–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holt, R.D., 2008. Theoretical perspectives on resource pulses. Ecology, 89, 671–681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ilarri, M., Antunes, C., Guilhermino, L. and Sousa, R., 2011. Massive mortality of the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea in a highly invaded area. Biol. Invasions, 13, 277–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ilg, C., Foeckler, F., Deichner, O. and Henle, K., 2009. Extreme flood events favour floodplain mollusc diversity. Hydrobiologia, 621, 63–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lytle, D.A. and Poff, N.L., 2004. Adaptation to natural flow regimes. Trends Ecol. Evol., 19, 94–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maron, J., Estes, J., Croll, D., Danner, E., Elmendorff, S. and Buckelew, S., 2006. An introduced predator alters Aleutian Island plant communities by thwarting nutrient subsidies. Ecol. Monogr., 76, 3–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostfeld, R.S. and Keesing, F., 2000. Pulsed resources and community dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. Trends Ecol. Evol., 15, 232–237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Polis, G.A., Anderson, W.B. and Holt, R.D., 1997. Toward an integration of landscape and food web ecology: the dynamics of spatially subsidized food webs. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 28, 289–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romanuk, T.N. and Levings, C.D., 2010. Reciprocal subsidies and food web pathways leading to chum salmon fry in a temperate marine-terrestrial ecotone. PLoS One, 5, e10073.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousa, R., Rufino, M., Gaspar, M., Antunes, C. and Guilhermino, L., 2008a. Abiotic impacts on spatial and temporal distribution of Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774) in the River Minho estuary, Portugal. Aquat. Conserv., 18, 98–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousa, R., Antunes, C. and Guilhermino, L., 2008b. Ecology of the invasive Asian clam Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774) in aquatic ecosystems: an overview. Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim., 44, 85–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousa, R., Dias, S., Guilhermino, L. and Antunes, C., 2008c. Minho River tidal freshwater wetlands: threats to faunal biodiversity. Aquat. Biol., 3, 237–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousa, R., Nogueira, A.J.A., Gaspar, M., Antunes, C. and Guilhermino, L., 2008d. Growth and extremely high production of the non-indigenous invasive species Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774): possible implications for ecosystem functioning. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 80, 289–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousa, R., Dias, S., Freitas, V. and Antunes, C., 2008e. Subtidal macrozoobenthic assemblages along the River Minho estuarine gradient (north-west Iberian Peninsula). Aquat. Conserv., 18, 1063–1077.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strayer, D.L., 2006. Challenges for freshwater invertebrate conservation. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc., 25, 271–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strayer, D.L., Hunter, D.C., Smith, L.C. and Borg, C.K., 1994. Distribution, abundance, and roles of freshwater clams (Bivalvia, Unionidae) in the freshwater tidal Hudson River. Freshw. Biol., 31, 239–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strayer, D.L., Downing, J.A., Haag, W.R., King, T.L., Layzer, J.B., Newton, T.J. and Nichols, S.J., 2004. Changing perspectives on pearly mussels, North America's most imperilled animals. BioScience, 54, 429–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaughn, C., 2010. Biodiversity losses and ecosystem function in freshwaters: emerging conclusions and research directions. Bioscience, 60, 25–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaughn, C. and Taylor, C.M., 1999. Impoundments and the decline of freshwater mussels: a case study of an extinction gradient. Conserv. Biol., 13, 912–920.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, J.V., 1998. Riverine landscapes: biodiversity patterns, disturbance regimes, and aquatic conservation. Biol. Conserv., 83, 269–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wetzel, R.G., 2001. Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Yang, L.H., Bastow, J.L., Spence, K.O. and Wright, A.N., 2008. What can we learn from resource pulses? Ecology, 89, 621–634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, L.H., 2004. Periodical cicadas as resource pulses in North American forests. Science, 306, 1565–1567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed