Browsing by Author "Ferreira-Rodriguez, Noe"
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- A global synthesis of ecosystem services provided and disrupted by freshwater bivalve molluscsPublication . Zieritz, Alexandra; Sousa, Ronaldo; Aldridge, David C.; Douda, Karel; Esteves, Eduardo; Ferreira-Rodriguez, Noe; Mageroy, Jon H.; Nizzoli, Daniele; Osterling, Martin; Reis, Joaquim; Riccardi, Nicoletta; Daill, Daniel; Gumpinger, Clemens; Vaz, Ana SofiaIdentification of ecosystem services, i.e. the contributions that ecosystems make to human well-being, has proven instrumental in galvanising public and political support for safeguarding biodiversity and its benefits to people. Here we synthesise the global evidence on ecosystem services provided and disrupted by freshwater bivalves, a heterogenous group of >1200 species, including some of the most threatened (in Unionida) and invasive (e.g. Dreissena polymorpha) taxa globally. Our systematic literature review resulted in a data set of 904 records from 69 countries relating to 24 classes of provisioning (N = 189), cultural (N = 491) and regulating (N = 224) services following the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES). Prominent ecosystem services included (i) the provisioning of food, materials and medicinal products, (ii) knowledge acquisition (e.g. on water quality, past environments and historical societies), ornamental and other cultural contributions, and (iii) the filtration, sequestration, storage and/or transformation of biological and physico-chemical water properties. About 9% of records provided evidence for the disruption rather than provision of ecosystem services. Synergies and trade-offs of ecosystem services were observed. For instance, water filtration by freshwater bivalves can be beneficial for the cultural service ‘biomonitoring’, while negatively or positively affecting food consumption or human recreation. Our evidence base spanned a total of 91 genera and 191 species, dominated by Unionida (55% of records, 76% of species), Veneroida (21 and 9%, respectively; mainly Corbicula spp.) and Myoida (20 and 4%, respectively; mainly Dreissena spp.). About one third of records, predominantly from Europe and the Americas, related to species that were non-native to the country of study. The majority of records originated from Asia (35%), with available evidence for 23 CICES classes, as well as Europe (29%) and North America (23%), where research was largely focused on ‘biomonitoring’. Whilst the earliest record (from 1949) originated from North America, since 2000, annual output of records has increased rapidly in Asia and Europe. Future research should focus on filling gaps in knowledge in lesser-studied regions, including Africa and South America, and should look to provide a quantitative valuation of the socio-economic costs and benefits of ecosystem services shaped by freshwater bivalves.
- The role of calcium concentration in the invasive capacity of Corbicula fluminea in crystalline basinsPublication . Ferreira-Rodriguez, Noe; I, Fernández; Varandas, Simone; Cortes, Rui; Cancela, M. Leonor; Pardo, IsabelThe natural variation of environmental factors in freshwater basins determines their biodiversity. Among them, calcium is a key physiological compound for freshwater invertebrates. It is required for shell formation, muscle contraction, it mediates gene expression and allows counteracting acidosis during stress periods, among other functions. Although the distribution of different freshwater species has been suggested to be linked with the environmental calcium concentration, as yet no research studies have confirmed this. Identifying whether environmental calcium concentrations might determine the invasion success of alien species would be critical in developing and implementing effective management strategies to control them. Here, a multidisciplinary approach integrating field surveys, analytical chemistry techniques, molecular biology analyses and a lab-scale experiment was taken to decipher whether the environmental calcium Concentration might hamper the establishment of Corbicula fluminea in northwestern Iberian rivers. A Principal Component Analysis on water chemistry variables from 13 water bodies identified environmental calcium concentration, among others, as one key factor that best characterized the distribution area of C. fluminea. The calcium content in animals' bodies from two representative rivers was dependent on the environmental calcium concentration of freshwater basins; the lower the concentration, the lower the body's content. The expression of stress- and calcium homeostasis-related genes was higher in C fluminea from low calcium concentration environments than in those from calcium-rich freshwater basins. Finally, under experimental conditions, lower water calcium concentrations decreased C fluminea growth rates. The present data suggest, for the first time, that environmental calcium concentration may act as a determinant factor on the invasion success of C. fluminea in freshwater environments. Our results provide new clues for the identification of basins with increased risk of potential invasion by C fluminea based on environmental calcium levels. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.