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...
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...
Freshwater mussels are declining globally, and effective conservation requires prioritizing research and actions to identify and mitigate threats impacting mussel species. Conservation priorities vary widely, ranging from preventing imminent extinction to maintaining abundant populations. Here, we develop a portfolio of priority research topics for freshwater mussel conservation assessment. To address these top...
The complete mitogenomes of one (M-)ale (North America), one Hermaphroditic (Europe), and two (F-)emale (North America and Europe) individuals of the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera were sequenced. The M-type and F-type (Female and Hermaphroditic) mitogenomes have 17,421 and 16,122 nucleotides, respectively. All with the same content: 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA, two ribosomal R...
The complete mitogenomes of one (M-)ale (North America), one Hermaphroditic (Europe), and two (F-)emale (North America and Europe) individuals of the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera were sequenced. The M-type and F-type (Female and Hermaphroditic) mitogenomes have 17,421 and 16,122 nucleotides, respectively. All with the same content: 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA, two ribosomal R...
Freshwater mussels are declining globally, and effective conservation requires prioritizing research and actions to identify and mitigate threats impacting mussel species. Conservation priorities vary widely, ranging from preventing imminent extinction to maintaining abundant populations. Here, we develop a portfolio of priority research topics for freshwater mussel conservation assessment. To address these top...
Freshwater mussels of the Order Unionida provide important ecosystem functions and services, yet many of their populations are in decline. We comprehensively review the status of the 16 currently recognized species in Europe, collating for the first time their life-history traits, distribution, conservation status, habitat preferences, and main threats in order to suggest future management actions. In northern,...