Declines in freshwater mussel density, size and productivity in the River Thames over the past half century.

ABSTRACT: A pioneering, quantitative study published in Journal of Animal Ecology in 1966 on freshwater mussel populations in the River Thames, UK, continues to be cited extensively as evidence of the major contribution that mussels make to benthic biomass and ecosystem functioning in global river ecosystems. Ecological alteration, as well as declines in freshwater mussel populations elsewhere, suggest that changes to mussel populations in the River Thames are likely to have occurred over the half century since this study. We resurveyed the site reported in Negus (1966) and quantified the changes in mussel population density, species composition, growth patterns and productivity. We found large declines in population density for all unionid species. The duck mussel Anodonta anatina decreased to 1.1%

SUBMITTER: Ollard I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10100129 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature