Status and trends of the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) in the lower Fox River and Green Bay

Smith, Bradley J.; Harris, Brandon S.; Harris, Tyler J.; LaBudde, Lisa A.; Hayer, Cari‐Ann

doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2018.02.012

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Zebra mussel invasion has also affected benthic invertebrate abundance and diversity in Green Bay (Reed et al, 2004). Invasion of the nonindigenous species such as Asian clam (Smith et al, 2018) or predatory Bythotrephes longimanus (Merkle & De Stasio, 2018) disturbs the ecological balance of the system. At the same time, some native species that used to be essential elements in the life cycle of the bay ecosystem went extinct.…”

Section: Lost or Altered Habitats And Harmful Algal Bloomsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions between sediment processes and ecosystem responses in the Green Bay of Lake Michigan

2023

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Estuaries, in particular freshwater estuaries, provide valuable economic, social, and ecological services, but their ecosystems are often heavily stressed. Located in the Laurentian Great Lakes basin, Green Bay is a large freshwater estuary and a prominent example of a degraded ecosystem due to intensive human interventions and rapid development. Excessive amounts of contaminants and nutrients were discharged to the bay by inflowing tributaries for almost half a century, while in contrast Green Bay's seasonal‐, morphological‐, and physically‐restricted mixing is unable to export a significant portion of those materials out of the bay, that is, Green Bay behaves as an efficient retention basin for the Lake Michigan. Consequently, several environmental and public health‐related issues have risen in Green Bay and turned the lower bay into an area of environmental concern since the 1980s. To address these challenges, restoration programs were developed, including the development of monitoring programs, scientific research, and remedial action plans. There is a consensus that accelerated loading rates of contaminated and nutrient‐rich sediments are a major driver of the environmental crisis in the bay, yet the fate and transport patterns of Green Bay sediments are not clearly understood. While field observations in Green Bay are season‐limited and costly, advanced computing techniques provided opportunities to refine our understanding of sediment dynamics in this estuarine system. This review of existing knowledge on Green Bay sediment processes can help to better understand the interplay between sediments, and physical/biogeochemical activities in estuarine systems and contributes conceptually to the restoration of degraded aquatic ecosystems.This article is categorized under: Science of Water > Hydrological Processes Science of Water > Water Quality Water and Life > Stresses and Pressures on Ecosystems

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Section: Lost or Altered Habitats And Harmful Algal Bloomsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions between sediment processes and ecosystem responses in the Green Bay of Lake Michigan

2023

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“…In North America, a population of Corbicula was well-established within the St. Lawrence River in the cooling water plume of a power plant (Simard et al, 2012), but a rapid extirpation followed the decommissioning of the power plant (Castañeda et al, 2018). Mortality events can also occur despite thermal refuge during particularly severe winters, as was documented in the Great Lakes region of the United States with a near extirpation of Corbicula in the Fox River (Smith et al, 2018).…”

Section: Low Temperaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For some invasive bivalves, warming temperatures have opened additional habitats that had previously been unsuitable climatically due to minimum temperatures (McDowell et al, 2014). Expanding into newly suitable habitats may make invasive bivalves vulnerable to occasional extreme cold, leading to mortality events, similar to those documented in the Great Lakes region of the United States (Smith et al, 2018). Within existing populations, higher temperatures could lead to more frequent mortality events during the summer, such as those observed by McDowell et al (2017).…”

Section: How Will Climate Change Alter the Frequency And Magnitude Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Mortality Events of Invasive Freshwater Bivalves: Current Understanding and Potential Directions for Future Research

McDowell

Sousa

2019

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Mass mortality events, the rapid, catastrophic die-off of organisms, have recently been recognized as important events in controlling population size, but are difficult to quantify given their infrequency. These events can lead to large inputs of animal carcasses into aquatic ecosystems, which can have ecosystem scale impacts. Invasive freshwater bivalves such as the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea, the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha, the golden mussel Limnoperna fortunei, and the Chinese pond mussel Sinanodonta woodiana can attain high densities and biomass and play important roles in aquatic ecosystems through filtration, bioturbation, and excretion. Invasive bivalve species can best be described as R-selected species and appear not to have the same tolerance to abiotic stressors as native species, causing them to be prone to mass mortality events in their invasive range. In contrast to their ecological effects while alive, the frequency and impacts of mass mortality events of invasive freshwater bivalves are not well-understood. Here we review the causes and impacts of mass mortality events, as well as identify important questions for future research. Extreme abiotic conditions, including both drought and flooding, as well as high and low temperatures were the primary drivers of mass mortality events. Short-term impacts of mass mortality events include large pulses of nitrogen and increased oxygen stress due to large amounts of soft tissue decomposition, while shells can impact habitat availability and nutrient cycling for decades. Impacts on biological communities (bacteria, fungi, and macroinvertebrates) are less studied but some examples exist concerning C. fluminea. Better documentation of mass mortality events, particularly their magnitude and frequency, is needed to fully understand the impacts invasive bivalve species have on ecosystems, especially as climate change may make mass mortality events more frequent and/or have a larger magnitude.

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“…5 1991, 1996Ward and Hodgson 1997;Smith et al 2018). A population of C. fluminea became established in the St. Lawrence River circa 2009, the most northernmost occurrence of the species in North America to date, but it remained confined within the thermal plume generated by the Gentilly-2 nuclear power plant in Bécancour, Quebec (Simard et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cold tolerance varies among invasive populations of the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea)

et al. 2021

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The distribution of the subtropical Asian clam Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774), one of the world’s most invasive freshwater molluscs, is reportedly constrained by a lower thermal tolerance limit of 2°C. Although its occurrence in north temperate regions is typically restricted to artificially heated waterbodies, the species has been found to overwinter in unheated lakes and rivers. In laboratory experiments, we compared the cold tolerance of populations from several geographically distinct sites spanning 35°N to 46°N in eastern North America. Each population contained individuals that fully recovered from two months of continuous exposure to near freezing (1°C) conditions, contrary to published accounts of C. fluminea’s thermal ecology. Survivorship increased with body size and was enhanced by prior acclimation to a low temperature (10°C) compared to a higher one (18°C). When acclimated to 10°C, clams from northern populations exhibited greater survivorship (55.0 ± 16.1%) than those from southern populations (26.7 ± 19.2%). However, one southern population demonstrated survivorship as great as that of the most tolerant northern population, suggesting that its clams could overwinter in unheated northern waterbodies. Differences among populations indicate either that contemporary evolution has occurred or that developmental plasticity shapes future acclimation responses.

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Status and trends of the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) in the lower Fox River and Green Bay

Cited by 10 publications

References 16 publications

Interactions between sediment processes and ecosystem responses in the Green Bay of Lake Michigan

Interactions between sediment processes and ecosystem responses in the Green Bay of Lake Michigan

Mass Mortality Events of Invasive Freshwater Bivalves: Current Understanding and Potential Directions for Future Research

Cold tolerance varies among invasive populations of the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea)

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