71 research outputs found
Spatial distribution of bivalves in relation to environmental conditions (middle Danube catchment, Hungary)
The spatial distribution of bivalves in relation to environmental conditions was studied along a second- and third
order stream – medium-sized river (River Ipoly) – large river (River Danube) continuum in the Hungarian Danube River system.
Quantitative samples were collected four times in 2007 and a total of 1662 specimens, belonging to 22 bivalve species were identified. Among these species, two are endangered (Pseudanodonta complanata, Unio crassus) and five are invasive (Dreissena polymorpha, D. rostriformis bugensis, Corbicula fluminea, C. fluminalis, Anodonta woodiana) in Hungary. The higher density presented by Pisidium subtruncatum, P. supinum, P. henslowanum and C. fluminea suggests that these species may have a key role in this ecosystem. Three different faunal groups were distinguished but no significant temporal change was detected. The lowest density and diversity with two species (P. casertanum and P. personatum) occurred in streams. The highest
density and diversity was found in the River Ipoly, in the side arms of the Danube and in the main arm of the Danube with sand and silt substrate, being dominated by P. subtruncatum and P. henslowanum. Moderate density and species richness were observed in the main arm of the Danube with pebble and stone substrate, being dominated by C. fluminea and S. rivicola. Ten environmental variables were found to have significant influence on the distribution of bivalves, the strongest explanatory factors being substrate types, current velocity and sedimentological characteristics.The project was financially supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund under the contract No. OTKA T/046180. Special thanks to the DanubeIpoly National Park for the help in field work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Massive mortality of invasive bivalves as a potential resource subsidy for the adjacent terrestrial food web
Large-scale mortality of invasive bivalves
was observed in the River Danube basin in the autumn
of 2011 due to a particularly low water discharge. The
aim of this study was to quantify and compare the
biomass of invasive and native bivalve die-offs
amongst eight different sites and to assess the potential
role of invasive bivalve die-offs as a resource subsidy
for the adjacent terrestrial food web. Invasive bivalve
die-offs dominated half of the study sites and their
highest density and biomass were recorded at the
warm water effluent. The density and biomass values
recorded in this study are amongst the highest values
recorded for aquatic ecosystems and show that a
habitat affected by heated water can sustain an extremely high biomass of invasive bivalves. These
mortalities highlight invasive bivalves as a major
resource subsidy, possibly contributing remarkable
amounts of nutrients and energy to the adjacent
terrestrial ecosystem. Given the widespread occurrence
of these invasive bivalves and the predicted
increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme
climatic events, the ecological impacts generated by
their massive mortalities should be taken into account
in other geographical areas as well.The authors are grateful to David Strayer for valuable comments on a previous version of the manuscript. Special thanks to the Danube-Ipoly National Park for the help in field work. Ronaldo Sousa was supported by the project "ECOIAS" funded by the Portuguese Foundation for the Science and the Technology and COMPETE funds (contract: PTDC/AAC-AMB/116685/2010)
Impact of Dreissena fouling on the physiological condition of native and invasive bivalves : interspecific and temporal variations
The impact of Dreissena fouling on unionids
has hardly been studied in Europe, despite the fact
that in some ecosystems (e.g. Lake Balaton, Hungary)
infestations of several hundreds to a thousand individuals
per unionid have been observed. At present,
the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha is a dominant
species in Lake Balaton and in the last decade three
other invasive bivalves were introduced, potentially
increasing the pressure on native unionid survival. We
examined whether the fouling of dreissenids (zebra
and quagga (D. rostriformis bugensis) mussels) has a
negative impact on native (Anodonta anatina, Unio
pictorum and U. tumidus) and invasive (Corbicula
fluminea and Sinanodonta woodiana) bivalves and
whether there are any interspecific and temporal
variations in fouling intensity and physiological
condition measured by standard condition index and
glycogen content. A significant negative impact was detected on native unionids only in July and September
(no impact was detected in May), when the fouling
rate was high. For invasive species, a significant
negative impact was detected on S. woodiana with a
high level of dressenid infestation; whereas no significant
impact was detected on C. fluminea. Overall, this
study confirms that Dreissena may threaten unionid
species including the invasive S. woodiana, although
high interspecific and temporal variations were
observed. This situation should be taken into account
in future ecological and conservational assessments
because species respond differently to Dreissena
fouling and effects seem to be more pronounced in
late summer/early autumn. In addition, this study
provides the first evidence that the invasive C.
fluminea appear to be less vulnerable to dressenid
fouling.The study was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Fund (KTIA-OTKA) under the contract No. CNK80140
The influence of the landscape structure within buffer zones, catchment land use and instream environmental variables on mollusc communities in a medium-sized lowland river
The world’s freshwater molluscan fauna is facing unprecedented threats from habitat loss and degradation. Declines in native populations are mostly attributed to the human impact, which results in reduced water quality. The objectives of our survey were to analyse the structure of the mollusc communities in a medium-sized lowland river and to determine the most important environmental variables at different spatial scales, including landscape structure, catchment land use and instream environmental factors that influence their structure. Our survey showed that a medium-sized river, that flows through areas included in the European Ecological Natura 2000 Network Programme of protected sites, provides diverse instream habitats and niches that support 47 mollusc species including Unio crassus, a bivalve of Community interest, whose conservation requires the designation of a special conservation area under the Habitats Directive Natura 2000. This survey showed that mollusc communities are impacted by several environmental variables that act together at multiple scales. The landscape structure within buffer zones, catchment land use and instream environmental variables were all important and influenced the structure of mollusc communities. Therefore, they should all be taken into consideration in the future restoration of the river, future management projects and programmes for the conservation of biodiversity in running waters. The results of this study may be directly applicable for the rehabilitation of river ecosystems and are recommended to stakeholders in their future decision concerning landscape planning, monitoring species and their habitats, conservation plans and management in accordance with the requirements of sustainable development
Global gene flow releases invasive plants from environmental constraints on genetic diversity
When plants establish outside their native range, their ability to adapt to the new environment is influenced by both demography and dispersal. However, the relative importance of these two factors is poorly understood. To quantify the influence of demography and dispersal on patterns of genetic diversity underlying adaptation, we used data from a globally distributed demographic research network comprising 35 native and 18 nonnative populations of Plantago lanceolata. Species-specific simulation experiments showed that dispersal would dilute demographic influences on genetic diversity at local scales. Populations in the native European range had strong spatial genetic structure associated with geographic distance and precipitation seasonality. In contrast, nonnative populations had weaker spatial genetic structure that was not associated with environmental gradients but with higher within-population genetic diversity. Our findings show that dispersal caused by repeated, long-distance, human-mediated introductions has allowed invasive plant populations to overcome environmental constraints on genetic diversity, even without strong demographic changes. The impact of invasive plants may, therefore, increase with repeated introductions, highlighting the need to constrain future introductions of species even if they already exist in an area
Biology and conservation of freshwater bivalves : past, present and future perspectives
Freshwater bivalves have been highly
threatened by human activities, and recently their
global decline has been causing conservational and
social concern. In this paper, we review the most
important research events in freshwater bivalve biology
calling attention to the main scientific achievements.
A great bias exists in the research effort, with
much more information available for bivalve species
belonging to the Unionida in comparison to other
groups. The same is true for the origin of these studies,
since the publishing pattern does not always correspond
to the hotspots of biodiversity but is concentrated in the northern hemisphere mainly in
North America, Europe and Russia, with regions such
as Africa and Southeast Asia being quite understudied.
We also summarize information about past, present
and future perspectives concerning the most important
research topics that include taxonomy, systematics,
anatomy, physiology, ecology and conservation of
freshwater bivalves. Finally, we introduce the articles
published in this Hydrobiologia special issue related
with the International Meeting on Biology and Conservation
of Freshwater Bivalves held in 2012 in
Braganc¸a, Portugal.We would like to express our gratitude to our sponsors and institutions, especially to the Polytechnic Institute of Braganca for all the logistic support. We acknowledge all keynote speakers, authors, session chairpersons and especially to all attendees whose contributions were fundamental for the success of this meeting. We would also like to thank all referees of this special issue and to Koen Martens, Editor-in-Chief of Hydrobiologia, for all the valuable comments and suggestions. The chronogram was built with the help of the expert opinion of fellow colleagues Rafael Araujo, Arthur Bogan, Kevin Cummings, Dan Graf, Wendell Haag, Karl-Otto Nagel and David Strayer to whom we are very grateful. The authors acknowledge the support provided by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and COMPETE funds-projects CONBI (Contract: PTDC/AAC-AMB/117688/2010) and ECO-IAS (Contract: PTDC/AAC-AMB/116685/2010), and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE, under the project "PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2011"
Phenotypic plasticity masks range-wide genetic differentiation for vegetative but not reproductive traits in a short-lived plant
Genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity jointly shape intraspecific trait variation, but their roles differ among traits. In short-lived plants, reproductive traits may be more genetically determined due to their impact on fitness, whereas vegetative traits may show higher plasticity to buffer short-term perturbations. Combining a multi-treatment greenhouse experiment with observational field data throughout the range of a widespread short-lived herb, Plantago lanceolata, we (1) disentangled genetic and plastic responses of functional traits to a set of environmental drivers and (2) assessed how genetic differentiation and plasticity shape observational trait–environment relationships. Reproductive traits showed distinct genetic differentiation that largely determined observational patterns, but only when correcting traits for differences in biomass. Vegetative traits showed higher plasticity and opposite genetic and plastic responses, masking the genetic component underlying field-observed trait variation. Our study suggests that genetic differentiation may be inferred from observational data only for the traits most closely related to fitness
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