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Oxygen Depletion Events Control the Invasive Golden Mussel (Limnoperna fortunei) in a Tropical Floodplain

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Abstract

Over the past 10 years the golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei), an exotic species native to eastern Asia, has become widespread and abundant in the Pantanal Wetland, Brazil. Oxygen concentrations are often low in rivers and floodplain waters of the Pantanal and oxygen depletion events can last for several weeks during the rising water phase. Although mortality of L. fortunei has been documented during oxygen depletion events, its tolerance to hypoxic and anoxic conditions is poorly understood, in part because changes in oxygen availability are accompanied by other changes such as decreased pH. We analyzed interannual variation in densities of adults and juveniles in relation to varying oxygen conditions, and tested the tolerance of L. fortunei to oxygen depletion events in a floodplain lake and in the laboratory. Mussels died after 5 days of an oxygen depletion event in a floodplain lake, and a population established there in 2005 was extirpated in 2006 owing to hypoxic conditions. Laboratory tests confirmed that mussels died more quickly in water from the oxygen depletion event. Annual oxygen depletion events must control the density of the invasive golden mussel in the Pantanal, maintaining low densities and periodically extirpating them from some habitats.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the Brazilian government through its National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), PELD and CTHIDRO programs, and Embrapa Pantanal. A visit by the first author to Kellogg Biological Station also was partially supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program (grant #RD83170801). We are grateful to the technical staff of EMBRAPA as well as to Viviane Eilers, Claudiane L Santos, Izabela Xavier and Tatiane Cielo. Field work was facilitated by the local community of Castelo Lake, the Pantanal National Park, and the Passo do Lontra Hotel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Embrapa Pantanal, Rua 21 de Setembro, 1880, CP 109, CEP 79320 900, Corumbá, MS, Brazil

    Márcia D. Oliveira & Debora F. Calheiros

  2. W.K. Kellogg Biological Station and Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, 3700 E. Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners, MI, 49060-9516, USA

    Stephen K. Hamilton

  3. Federal University of Minas Gerais, Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    Claudia M. Jacobi

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  1. Márcia D. Oliveira
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Correspondence to Márcia D. Oliveira.

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Oliveira, M.D., Hamilton, S.K., Calheiros, D.F. et al. Oxygen Depletion Events Control the Invasive Golden Mussel (Limnoperna fortunei) in a Tropical Floodplain. Wetlands 30, 705–716 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-010-0081-3

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