Freshwater Mussels are important and in trouble

[Lady of Elms]

"Freshwater mussels are one of the most endangered groups of animals on the planet, with 47% either extinct or threatened with extinction. Yet we hear almost nothing about the extinction crisis they face."

"In 2019, the death of hundreds of thousands of pheasantshell mussels in the Clinch River in Tennessee, U.S. may have been caused by a virus, and prolonged droughts have killed mussels en masse throughout the U.S. and Australia."

https://phys.org/news/2022-01-century-rivers-freshwater-mussels-dying.html

The foundations for our food webs (and life as we know it) are usually small and overlooked organisms, but we need them. 

[Genady]

What is suggested to do about it?

[geordief]

The upgrade to our local road was held up by objections to it on the grounds that these were populations in danger of extinction.

 

I am not sure what the outcome was .Perhaps the route was diverted or  abandoned.I am trying  to find out .

 

At the time these objections were held up to ridicule. 

 

I  can't say how important an issue this is as we are in the middle of a mass extinction  .

 

Is the fate of the freshwater mussel especially  important in that context?

[Genady]

I don't know about an ecological importance of freshwater mussels, but I have witnessed how instrumental they were in recovering of a popular SCUBA diving spot in PA, USA, called Dutch Springs. It is an old, abandoned quarry filled up by fresh water naturally. The water was getting more and more cloudy every year until the visibility was practically 0. Then the management introduced freshwater mussels one late fall as the quarry closed for the winter. By next spring when the quarry opened again for visitors, the water was clear with the visibility in tens of meters. Pretty much everything underwater was covered with a mat of mussels, but nobody cared. There suddenly was a lot of light and colors, fish, seaweed, rocks, wrecks, etc.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Genady

[sethoflagos]

8 minutes ago, geordief said:

Is the fate of the freshwater mussel especially  important in that context?

Important dietary component for the African Openbill (though they tend to take freshwater snails first). 

They're the only Ciconiid I get to see on a regular basis so I'd certainly miss them if they disappeared.

[Lady of Elms]

1 hour ago, Genady said:

I don't know about an ecological importance of freshwater mussels, but I have witnessed how instrumental they were in recovering of a popular SCUBA diving spot in PA, USA, called Dutch Springs. It is an old, abandoned quarry filled up by fresh water naturally. The water was getting more and more cloudy every year until the visibility was practically 0. Then the management introduced freshwater mussels one late fall as the quarry closed for the winter. By next spring when the quarry opened again for visitors, the water was clear with the visibility in tens of meters. Pretty much everything underwater was covered with a mat of mussels, but nobody cared. There suddenly was a lot of light and colors, fish, seaweed, rocks, wrecks, etc.

Yes, mussels are important in cleaning waterways, both in fresh and salt water. I found a video demonstrating how they filter clean their habitats. 
 

 

The biggest problem they face right now is water pollution and habitat destruction. 

[mistermack]

Some mussels are extremely tough. The Zebra Mussel is becoming invasive all round the world. 

[Moontanman]

On 12/30/2022 at 5:49 PM, Lady of Elms said:

"Freshwater mussels are one of the most endangered groups of animals on the planet, with 47% either extinct or threatened with extinction. Yet we hear almost nothing about the extinction crisis they face."

"In 2019, the death of hundreds of thousands of pheasantshell mussels in the Clinch River in Tennessee, U.S. may have been caused by a virus, and prolonged droughts have killed mussels en masse throughout the U.S. and Australia."

https://phys.org/news/2022-01-century-rivers-freshwater-mussels-dying.html

The foundations for our food webs (and life as we know it) are usually small and overlooked organisms, but we need them. 

Yes, I agree with you, I am a member of NANFA, North American Native Fishes Association, freshwater mussels are a real time indicator of the health of freshwater ecosystems. In the ancient past freshwater mussels were an important source of food for Native Americans but pollution and invasive species have degraded the over all populations of mussels and made it necessary for laws protecting most native species.   

[studiot]

1 hour ago, Moontanman said:

Yes, I agree with you, I am a member of NANFA, North American Native Fishes Association, freshwater mussels are a real time indicator of the health of freshwater ecosystems. In the ancient past freshwater mussels were an important source of food for Native Americans but pollution and invasive species have degraded the over all populations of mussels and made it necessary for laws protecting most native species.   

This is most interesting to learn that N America is suffering from invasive species.

I woner what they are ?

I ask this because in Europe we are generally concerned with the reverse by species such as the N American squirrel and mink.

[Genady]

19 minutes ago, studiot said:

This is most interesting to learn that N America is suffering from invasive species.

I woner what they are ?

I ask this because in Europe we are generally concerned with the reverse by species such as the N American squirrel and mink.

Here is a long list: List of invasive species in North America - Wikipedia

[TheVat]

I know Asian carp have been an invasive scourge in the Mississippi rivershed.  In the southern US, there's been kudzu wreaking havoc for decades.   My spouse when she was young in Arkansas can recall old sheds and entire trees completely covered with the stuff wherever there was neglected property.  The tumbleweed, though movies often use it as a symbol of my western area, was a Russian invasive.  The emerald ash borer is another nightmare.

19 minutes ago, Genady said:

Here is a long list: List of invasive species in North America - Wikipedia

Some on that list are not a major ecological threat.  The Burmese python is a problem if it eats your cat but then it's probably saving some endangered birds by doing so.  And it's unlikely to venture much north of Florida Everglades.  The satiric writer Carl Hiaasen has a novel in which a Burmese python plays a central role*.  The cane toad is another one like that - your dog might get sick, but the toad isn't likely to ravage the ecosystem (in the USA; however in Australia they are a serious threat).  It's the little guys you have to watch out for, like ash borers, bark beetles, African land snails.

 

* "Squeeze Me"

Edited January 1, 2023 by TheVat
fix

[Genady]

40 minutes ago, TheVat said:

Some on that list are not a major ecological threat

They define invasive as

Quote

directly threatening human industry, such as agriculture, or the local biodiversity.

Perhaps Burmese python would eat farm chicken thus "directly threatening human industry."

[Genady]

A species I had issues with being on this list is lionfish. It has been discussed in the old thread and I would like to know if there are new data on that:

 

[studiot]

5 hours ago, Genady said:

Here is a long list: List of invasive species in North America - Wikipedia

Thank you for the link and reply. +1

I'm not vey impressed with the Wiki article however, the list appears somewhat padded out.

For instance vinca minor is listed and also appears as one of  select few photographs on the companion Wiki article entitled invasive species which defines invasive species.

It seems vinca is on somebody's hit list.

Yet I can't see what terrible damage it is likely to cause, especially as several respectable american horticultural bodies offer cultivation advice.

 

[Moontanman]

3 hours ago, Genady said:

A species I had issues with being on this list is lionfish. It has been discussed in the old thread and I would like to know if there are new data on that:

 

Far too much of the reefs biomass is locked up in Lion Fish, they have even appeared in large numbers on reefs local ot my area in NC. They eat anything they can swallow and are seldom preyed upon by native fishes. In many reef areas they are so numerous as to be the only fish in large sections of the reef and occur in huge numbers. I've seen the reports from NOAA and one of my friends works for NOAA and has extensive information on this species. ON the bright side they are good to eat and easily caught or speared.  

6 hours ago, studiot said:

This is most interesting to learn that N America is suffering from invasive species.

I woner what they are ?

I ask this because in Europe we are generally concerned with the reverse by species such as the N American squirrel and mink.

There are quite a few invasive species from around the world, specific to clams and mussels are the asian clam, in my area, and the zebra and quagga mussels from europe that have invaded the Great Lakes region.   

Edited January 1, 2023 by Moontanman

[Genady]

2 minutes ago, studiot said:

I'm not vey impressed with the Wiki article however, the list appears somewhat padded out.

It perhaps is. Somebody put it together. I don't know of an official body which maintains such a list. Maybe @Lady of Elms does? Or @CharonY?

[Moontanman]

I once tried to get NANFA on board to introduce Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni into certain small rivers in NA due to its habitat being almost completely destroyed in eurasia but I took quite a beating from the "no exoctics at all" crowd.

 

[Genady]

7 minutes ago, Moontanman said:

Far too much of the reefs biomass is locked up in Lion Fish, they have even appeared in large numbers on reefs local ot my area in NC. They eat anything they can swallow and are seldom preyed upon by native fishes. In many reef areas they are so numerous as to be the only fish in large sections of the reef and occur in huge numbers. I've seen the reports from NOAA and one of my friends works for NOAA and has extensive information on this species.

Yes, I know. We've discussed it almost a year ago.

[Moontanman]

2 minutes ago, Genady said:

It perhaps is. Somebody put it together. I don't know of an official body which maintains such a list. Maybe @Lady of Elms does? Or @CharonY?

https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/

1 minute ago, Genady said:

Yes, I know. We've discussed it almost a year ago.

So... if I am reading you correctly you disagree? 

[Genady]

1 minute ago, Moontanman said:

if I am reading you correctly you disagree? 

It's emotions. I'd like to see data about the damage they cause.

3 minutes ago, Moontanman said:

https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/

Thank you.

[Moontanman]

4 minutes ago, Genady said:

It's emotions. I'd like to see data about the damage they cause.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/ecosystems/impacts-invasive-lionfish#:~:text=As lionfish populations grow%2C they,the health of coral reefs.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lionfish.html

Edited January 1, 2023 by Moontanman

[Genady]

2 minutes ago, Moontanman said:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/ecosystems/impacts-invasive-lionfish#:~:text=As lionfish populations grow%2C they,the health of coral reefs.

 

The same single study from 2008. The rest is what could happen,

Quote

could negatively affect

I'd like to know if these bad effects in fact occur. Any new data? Preferably by a larger study?

8 minutes ago, Moontanman said:

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lionfish.html

Quote

How lionfish will affect native fish populations and commercial fishing industries has yet to be determined

 

[TheVat]

Always worth asking how these lists are put together, especially when it comes to claims that an invasive outcompetes other species.  As @studiot noted, species like vinca minor can make the list (I had to chuckle at that) for trifling reasons - someone had a spot of trouble in their garden?  Periwinkle are well behaved, and little threat to biodiversity....unlike the bindweed (Calystegia?) that overruns our yard and sets about choking other plants and forms immortal and indestructible deep root systems.  If it weren't for our mule deer friends, who like snacking on it, we would be barely keeping up.

 

 

 

[Genady]

42 minutes ago, TheVat said:

 especially when it comes to claims that an invasive outcompetes other species.

Yes. The official site mentioned above,

3 hours ago, Moontanman said:

https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/

has the following disclaimer on every page:

Quote

Note: Our species profiles provide general information about species considered to be invasive. This is not a list of all invasive species, nor does our information have regulatory implications. The large numbers of invasive species prevent us from maintaining detailed information on ALL invasive species. In addition, determining the invasiveness of a species depends on a number of local factors, including type of habitat. Our species profiles are provided as an educational informational tool.

(my emphasis)

[CharonY]

I do not have any expertise in that field, and my knowledge if pretty much limited to talks I heard from colleagues who are work in fields related to invasive species. 

But from my limited understanding there are various definitions for invasive species, which can vary in use, depending on context (e.g. depending on ecosystem, whether it is a research vs policy vs conservation, etc.). 

Roughly speaking, in policy terms certain non-native species can be categorized if their introduction has potential to cause economic, environmental or human health harm.  Factors can be highly artificial, as for example certain form of agriculture, animal husbandry etc. can be highly sensitive to even somewhat moderate influences, which might not be a factor in a pristine ecosystem. 

7 hours ago, studiot said:

Yet I can't see what terrible damage it is likely to cause, especially as several respectable american horticultural bodies offer cultivation advice.

There are a few studies that show reduced biodiversity in forest sites. Not sure about the effect size, though.

 

Another issue with these evaluations is that for risk assessments a variety of factors might be used, e.g. growth rate, behaviour in other habitats, similarity of ecologic niches compared to native species, and so on. IOW, it is difficult to be certain of the damages until at least some damages has been done, at which point it might be too late. 

To complicate matters, literature often discusses invasiveness outside of these policy definitions, for example if a non-native species spreads into a new habitat, regardless of short or long-term damages to the system (which can be difficult to assess for a wide range of reasons).

So what I took home from the these talks is mostly that a) it is important to check carefully the context in which invasive species are discussed b) that often (but not always) proactive strategies are good a idea as in some cases the impact on biodiversity can be rather massive, but c) data is often sparse and there is almost always at least some (necessary) level of extrapolation going on.