Freshwater Mussel Ecology: A Multifactor Approach to Distribution and Abundance (Freshwater Ecology Series, Band 1) - Hardcover

Buch 1 von 3: Freshwater Ecology Series

Strayer, David L.

 
9780520255265: Freshwater Mussel Ecology: A Multifactor Approach to Distribution and Abundance (Freshwater Ecology Series, Band 1)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0520255267 ISBN 13: 9780520255265
Verlag: University of California Press, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

Pearly mussels (Unionoidea) live in lakes, rivers, and streams around the world. These bivalves play important roles in freshwater ecosystems and were once both culturally and economically valuable as sources of food, pearls, and mother-of-pearl. Today, however, hundreds of species of these mussels are extinct or endangered. David L. Strayer provides a critical synthesis of the factors that control the distribution and abundance of pearly mussels. Using empirical analyses and models, he assesses the effects of dispersal, habitat quality, availability of fish hosts, adequate food, predators, and parasites. He also addresses conservation issues that apply to other inhabitants of fresh waters around the globe and other pressing issues in contemporary ecology.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

David L. Strayer is Senior Scientist at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies and author of Pearly Mussels of New York State, among other books.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

“David Strayer provides an insightful and stimulating study of the ecology, biogeography, and diversity of one of the most threatened and endangered groups of freshwater species. Mussels provide important ecosystem services such as biofiltration and are critical components of river and lake ecosystems. They also serve as sentinels for studies of water quality. Strayer places these species in a comprehensive context that makes for interesting reading and a lesson in the philosophy of science that underpins conservation biology. The literature cited is impressive in its scope and completeness. Strayer's style and depth of understanding are unmatched and demonstrate his long experience working with both native and non-native bivalves, as well as many other benthic invertebrates.”—Alan P. Covich, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia

"Native freshwater mussel populations have been seriously compromised over the past century. Historically, mussel beds in many of the large rivers of North America were widely distributed and abundant. Today, native mussels are often rare where once abundant. In contrast, many non-native species populations have dramatically expanded and continue to extend their range. The reasons for native population losses are many, and explanations for exotic species expansions are often oversimplified. In their seminal work, Andrewartha and Birch in 1954 wrote that the essence of ecology is to understand the distribution and abundance of plants and animals. Although far more sophisticated in approach and methods, ecology a half-century later remains largely about discovery of plant and animal distribution and abundance. This book by David Strayer is a significant step forward in freshwater mussel ecology. His treatment of contemporary analysis is thought-provoking and adds not only to our understanding of this important freshwater group, but also of general ecological principles." —Richard Hauer, Editor-in-Chief of the Freshwater Ecology Series, Professor of Limnology, The University of Montana

"In Freshwater Mussel Ecology, David Strayer presents a clear synthesis of the multiple interacting factors that control the distribution and abundance of pearly mussels, one of the most imperiled groups of freshwater animals. This book stands as a benchmark that will be indispensable to freshwater ecologists and water managers charged with conserving this endangered fauna."—Kurt D. Fausch, Stream Fish Ecology Laboratory, Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

Aus dem Klappentext

David Strayer provides an insightful and stimulating study of the ecology, biogeography, and diversity of one of the most threatened and endangered groups of freshwater species. Mussels provide important ecosystem services such as biofiltration and are critical components of river and lake ecosystems. They also serve as sentinels for studies of water quality. Strayer places these species in a comprehensive context that makes for interesting reading and a lesson in the philosophy of science that underpins conservation biology. The literature cited is impressive in its scope and completeness. Strayer's style and depth of understanding are unmatched and demonstrate his long experience working with both native and non-native bivalves, as well as many other benthic invertebrates. Alan P. Covich, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia

"Native freshwater mussel populations have been seriously compromised over the past century. Historically, mussel beds in many of the large rivers of North America were widely distributed and abundant. Today, native mussels are often rare where once abundant. In contrast, many non-native species populations have dramatically expanded and continue to extend their range. The reasons for native population losses are many, and explanations for exotic species expansions are often oversimplified. In their seminal work, Andrewartha and Birch in 1954 wrote that the essence of ecology is to understand the distribution and abundance of plants and animals. Although far more sophisticated in approach and methods, ecology a half-century later remains largely about discovery of plant and animal distribution and abundance. This book by David Strayer is a significant step forward in freshwater mussel ecology. His treatment of contemporary analysis is thought-provoking and adds not only to our understanding of this important freshwater group, but also of general ecological principles." Richard Hauer, Editor-in-Chief of the Freshwater Ecology Series, Professor of Limnology, The University of Montana

"In Freshwater Mussel Ecology, David Strayer presents a clear synthesis of the multiple interacting factors that control the distribution and abundance of pearly mussels, one of the most imperiled groups of freshwater animals. This book stands as a benchmark that will be indispensable to freshwater ecologists and water managers charged with conserving this endangered fauna." Kurt D. Fausch, Stream Fish Ecology Laboratory, Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

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FRESHWATER MUSSEL ECOLOGY

A Multifactor Approach to Distribution and AbundanceBy David L. Strayer

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Copyright © 2008 The Regents of the University of California
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-520-25526-5

Contents

Preface....................................................viiPART ONE. THE LABORATORY1. The Model as Monster....................................32. The Case of Pearly Mussels..............................9PART TWO. THE MONSTER'S PARTS3. Dispersal...............................................254. Habitat.................................................435. Hosts...................................................656. Food....................................................877. Enemies.................................................1058. Implications for Conservation...........................113PART THREE. MAKING THE MONSTER WALK9. Three Models for Mussel Ecology.........................12110. Is a Comprehensive Model Possible?.....................143Literature Cited...........................................157Index......................................................199

Chapter One

THE MODEL AS MONSTER

One of the most enduring popular images of science is that of the cinematic mad scientist, scouring a graveyard for body parts from which to build a monster. Dr. Frankenstein is faced with two formidable tasks. First, he and his hunchbacked assistant must gather all of the pieces needed to build a living monster (usually while evading the local constabulary). Even more daunting, he then must find some way to animate the collection of unliving body parts-he must make the monster walk.

Dr. Frankenstein might seem to be a strange role model for scientists, but his method is perhaps a compelling model of reductionist science. In reductionist science, scientists study the various parts of a larger scientific problem or system in the hope that once they understand how all of the pieces work they will be able to put them together and achieve a mechanistic understanding of the whole. Although reductionist approaches are used widely and successfully in many branches of science, including ecology, some critics have claimed that ecological systems are so complex that the reductionist goal of constructing a satisfactory understanding of complex ecological systems from its parts is so difficult so as to be practically unachievable, as well as philosophically unsound (e.g., Peters 1991, Rigler and Peters 1995, Bormann 2005).

In some ways, the task of reductionist science is even more difficult than Dr. Frankenstein's. Most often, a scientific field is not coordinated by a single person-it is as if we have dozens of hunchbacks scouring the countryside for body parts, but no scientist (mad or otherwise) to coordinate the monster-building. Further, unlike Dr. Frankenstein, we don't usually have an explicit plan for animating the parts into a working theory. Although most of ecological science is reductionist in character, scientists rarely explicitly assess whether a reductionist approach to a particular ecological problem is feasible: Can we collect all the parts needed to build a mechanistic understanding of the problem? Can we animate them into a working whole? If these are feasible problems, what parts to we need, and how do we best integrate them into a working theory? Here, I explicitly consider what would be required to build a mechanistic understanding of one specific ecological problem: that of predicting the distribution and abundance of freshwater unionoid mussels (Fig. 1); I then assess the feasibility of this enterprise.

This exercise could be done with any group of organisms. I chose unionoid mussels as an example because they are important in conservation and freshwater ecology-thus, there is a specific interest in understanding the factors that limit the distribution and abundance of this particular group of organisms; and because there is no reason to think that unionoids are unrepresentative of the many other groups of organisms that ecologists try to understand or manage; and also because I enjoy working with the group and am familiar with the literature on these animals.

Our current understanding of unionoid ecology is inadequate in three important ways: (1) studies of single factors have not yet led to an adequate understanding of the importance of any single factor in nature, even for those factors that have received much study (e.g., habitat, fish hosts); (2) some factors (e.g., food) have not even been seriously considered as controls on natural populations; and (3) the simultaneous influence of multiple controlling factors, although probably important in nature, has not been seriously considered by unionoid ecologists. That is, both Igor and Dr. Frankenstein have work to do. These problems are not unique to unionoid ecology-I do not believe that there is anything especially pathological about unionoid ecology-but are common to many areas in ecology.

Before proceeding, I want to be clear about what, in my view, would constitute a satisfactory theory of mussel distribution and abundance. Ecology is often said to be concerned with predicting the distribution and abundance of organisms, and I take that goal literally. That is, I think we should strive to make quantitative predictions about the probability of occurrence or abundance of individual species based on environmental and biological variables. An adequate theory should be able to do this well; that is, the theory predictions should be close to actual values of these variables in the field.

Ecologists sometimes seem content to reach alternative goals. For instance, I have the impression that some ecologists would be satisfied if we could just list the factors that determine distribution and abundance of organisms. That is, instead of producing an equation of the form

Abundance = 0.15 + (0.5 x food - 1.66 x [predation).sup.-|temperature-20|]

they would be happy to say that

Abundance = f (food, predation, temperature)

Alternatively, much of contemporary ecology is focused on understanding individual processes (e.g., predation, disturbance, competition). This focus has been very fruitful in making generalizations across study systems, and I do not question its value. Nevertheless, both science and society often have compelling needs to know the actual distribution or abundance of individual species. Species, and the ecosystems in which they live, are subject to the integrated, simultaneous influences of multiple processes (cf. Greene 2005). Isolated studies of individual processes or a vague outline of the equation that describes the control of distribution and abundance will not meet the intellectual or practical goals that ecologists and society have set for our discipline. Therefore, I insist that, whatever the value of reaching any other goals, a literal, quantitative prediction of the distribution and abundance of individual species is properly a central goal of ecology.

The objectives of this book are to assess the feasibility of producing such a theory to predict the distribution and abundance of unionoid mussels and, to the extent possible, rough in parts of that theory. I see three possible conclusions of this assessment: (1) we can produce a mechanistic theory (following the reductionist model) that adequately predicts the distribution and abundance of unionoid mussels; (2) we can't produce an adequate mechanistic theory, but we can devise some sort...

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Verlag
University of California Press
Erscheinungsdatum
2008
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0520255267
ISBN 13 
9780520255265
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
216
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