16 documents found, page 1 of 2
The silent extinction of freshwater mussels in Portugal
Lopes-Lima, M.; Reis, J.; Alvarez, Maria G.; Anastácio, P. M.; Banha, F.; Beja, P.; Castro, P.; Gama, Mafalda; Gil, M. G.; Gomes-dos-Santos, A.Freshwater mussels are one of the most threatened animal groups in the world. In the European Union, threatened and protected mussel species are not adequately monitored, while species considered to be common and widespread receive even less attention. This is particularly worrying in the Mediterranean region, where species endemism is high and freshwater habitats are severely affected by water scarcity. In the...
Predicting climatic threats to an endangered freshwater mussel in Europe: The n...
da Silva, J.P.; Gonçalves, D.V.; Lopes-Lima, M.; Gama, M.; Miranda, R.; Reis, J.; Filipe, A.F.; Banha, F.; Sousa, R.The freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera has been suffering major population declines in Europe. This endangered species is a host specialist and exclusively requires salmonid species (Salmo trutta and Salmo salar) to complete its life cycle. In theory, obligatory biotic interactions should deserve special conservation attention, because the loss or massive decline of fish hosts may elicit the ex...
Origin and history of Phoxinus (Cyprinidae) introductions in the Douro basin (I...
Garcia-Raventós, A.; Martins, Filipa M. S.; Teixeira, A.; Sousa, Ronaldo Gomes; Froufe, E.; Varandas, S.; Lopes-Lima, M.; Beja, P.; Filipe, A. F.The number of non-native freshwater fishes in the Iberian Peninsula has been greatly increasing. In this study, individuals of the genus Phoxinus were detected in 18 out of 138 stream sites sampled across the Douro Basin in 2017 and 2018. A total of 26 individuals were barcoded using partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and cytochrome b (cytb) genes for species identification and determination of geogra...
From the lab to the river: Determination of ecological hosts of Anodonta anatina
Dias, A. R.; Teixeira, J. A.; Lopes-Lima, M.; Varandas, S.; Sousa, Ronaldo Gomes1. Coextinction is the simplest form of secondary extinction and freshwater mussels (Bivalvia, Unionida) may be particularly prone to this phenomenon as their life cycle includes an obligatory parasitic larval stage on fish hosts. 2. The main aims of this study were to determine the possible ecological fish hosts of Anodonta anatina (Linnaeus, 1758) in several rivers of the Douro basin in north ern Portugal and...
Small hydropower plants as a threat to the endangered pearl mussel Margaritifer...
Sousa, Ronaldo Gomes; Ferreira, A.; Carvalho, F.; Lopes-Lima, M.; Varandas, S.; Teixeira, A.; Gallardo, B.Freshwater mussels are undergoing rapid global declines due to habitat loss and fragmentation, among other factors, but little is known about the effects of small hydropower plants. Here we assessed the impact of small hydropower plants on the abundance and size structure of the imperilled pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera. For this, we sampled 66 sites in three Portuguese rivers (Mente, Rabaçal and Tuel...
Microcondylaea bonellii as a new host for the European bitterling Rhodeus amarus
Sousa, Ronaldo Gomes; Bogan, A. E.; Gonçalves, D. V.; Lajtner, J.; Prié, V.; Riccardi, N.; Shumka, S.; Teixeira, A.; Urbanska, M.; Varandas, S.We report for the first time that the freshwater mussel Microcondylaea bonellii (Ferussac, 1827) functions as a suitable host for the European bitterling Rhodeus amarus (Bloch, 1782). Given the recent expansion of R. amarus in Europe, the possible physiological cost (e.g. competition for oxygen, reduction in water circulation, and consequent impairment of filter-feeding) of this interaction may further affect t...
Towards a taxonomically unbiased EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030
Mammola, S.; Riccardi, N.; Prié, V.; Correia, R.; Cardoso, P.; Lopes-Lima, M.; Sousa, Ronaldo GomesThrough the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and the financial investments of the LIFE projects, Europe has become an experimental arena for biological conservation. With an estimated annual budget of €20 billion, the EU Biodi versity Strategy for 2030 has set an ambitious goal of classifying 30% of its land and sea territory as Protected Areas and ensuring no deterioration in conservation trends and the status o...
Mesozoic mitogenome rearrangements and freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionoidea)...
Froufe, E.; Bolotov, I.; Aldridge, D. C.; Bogan, A.; Gan, H.M.; Kovitvadhi, U.; Kovitvadhi, S.; Riccardi, N.; Secci-Petretto, G.; Sousa, Ronaldo GomesUsing a new fossil-calibrated mitogenome-based approach, we identified macroevolutionary shifts in mitochondrial gene order among the freshwater mussels (Unionoidea). We show that the early Mesozoic divergence of the two Unionoidea clades, Margaritiferidae and Unionidae, was accompanied by a synchronous split in the gene arrangement in the female mitogenome (i.e., gene orders MF1 and UF1). Our results suggest t...
Setting the stage for new ecological indicator species: A holistic case study o...
Lopes-Lima, M.; Hinzmann, M.; Varandas, S.; Froufe, E.; Reis, J.; Moreira, C.; Araújo, S.; Miranda, F.; Gonçalves, D.; Beja, P.; Sousa, Ronaldo GomesDue to their sensitivity and dramatic declines, freshwater mussels are prime targets for conservation and environmental monitoring. For this, however, information is needed on life history and ecological traits, which is lacking in many taxa, including threatened species. Species recently described or recognized as valid are of particular concern, due to the shortage of even basic knowledge. A case in point is ...
Freshwater conservation assessments in (semi-)arid regions: testing river inter...
Gomes-dos-Santos, A.; Froufe, E.; Gonçalves, D. V.; Sousa, Ronaldo Gomes; Prié, V.; Ghamizi, M.; Benaissa, H.; Varandas, S.; Teixeira, A.The IUCN Red List assessments are essentially based on population trends and range, namely Area of Occupancy (AOO) and Extent of Occupancy (EOO). Range estimations are based on fixed grids, but this is likely inappropriate for species living in river networks. Furthermore, AOO and EOO are measured using the whole hydrographic network, therefore disregarding temporary sections, which is particularly problematic ...