Freshwater bivalves (FWB) are attracting scientific and societal attention given their essential ecosystem services, ecological functions, and poor conservation status. Current knowledge of the spatial distribution of West Palearctic FWB is poor preventing the understanding of biogeography and conservation planning. One of the priorities of the pan-European networking project "CONFREMU - Conservation of freshwa...
Freshwater biodiversity is under threat, but long-term quantitative studies showing major demographic declines in invertebrate species are still scarce. Here we focus on a long-term study (2004 to 2019) using four native freshwater mussel species (Order Unionida) colonizing two canals of the Ebro River (Spain). Special attention was given to Pseudunio auricularius (Spengler, 1793), a critically endangered speci...
Europe has a long history of human pressure on freshwater ecosystems. As pressure continues to grow and new threats emerge, there is an urgent need for conservation of freshwater biodiversity and its ecosystem services. However, whilst some taxonomic groups, mainly vertebrates, have received a disproportionate amount of attention and funds, other groups remain largely off the public and scientific radar. Freshw...
Europe has a long history of human pressure on freshwater ecosystems. As pressure continues to grow and new threats emerge, there is an urgent need for conservation of freshwater biodiversity and its ecosystem services. However, whilst some taxonomic groups, mainly vertebrates, have received a disproportionate amount of attention and funds, other groups remain largely off the public and scientific radar. Freshw...
Pseudunio auricularius (Spengler, 1793) is one of the most threatened unionid species worldwide. Translocation is considered one of the ultimate actions that can save this species from extinction in the Iberian Peninsula. Since 2013, massive mortalities have been recorded in the Canal Imperial de Aragón (CIA), an anthropogenic habitat where the highest density of P. auricularius had been recorded in Spain. An a...
Populations of the critically endangered freshwater mussel Pseudunio auricularius (Spengler, 1793) have been suffering sharp declines, particularly in the Ebro basin (Iberian Peninsula). Among other factors, pollution could be responsible for these declines. We conducted, for the first time, acute toxicological tests (96 h) with heavy metals and ammonia on P. auricularius juveniles. The resulting LC50 values, i...
Anthropogenic freshwater habitats may provide undervalued prospects for long-term conservation as part of species conservation planning. This fundamental, but overlooked, issue requires attention considering the pace that humans have been altering natural freshwater ecosystems and the accelerated levels of biodiversity decline in recent decades. We compiled 709 records of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia, Unionida)...
Anthropogenic freshwater habitats may provide undervalued prospects for long-term conservation as part of species conservation planning. This fundamental, but overlooked, issue requires attention considering the pace that humans have been altering natural freshwater ecosystems and the accelerated levels of biodiversity decline in recent decades. We compiled 709 records of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia, Unionida)...