Effects of the Invasive Freshwater Mussel Limnoperna fortunei on Sediment Properties and Accumulation Rates

Abstract

Since its introduction into South America around 1990, the freshwater bivalve Limnoperna fortunei (the golden mussel) has spread rapidly and is now a dominant component of the benthic and periphytic fauna in many rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Sizable impacts of this nonindigenous species on nutrient recycling, plankton abundance and composition, and trophic relationships with fishes have been reported, but its effects on the sediments have received little attention. In this work, we use eighteen 20‐L flow‐through experimental units with and without mussels where changes in the mass and characteristics of the sediments accumulated throughout a yearly cycle in monthly, biannual, and annual intervals are analyzed. Experimental units with mussels yielded almost 2 times more sediments than units without mussels and contained significantly higher loads of organic matter and total N. Total P was not affected by the presence of mussels. Sediments accumulated in the biannual and annual experimental units agreed well with the yields of the monthly units, but the vertical stratification of organic matter, N, and P was unpatterned. Seasonal changes in the volume of total sediments, biodeposits, and their organic matter and N contents were positively associated with ambient water temperature and with intermediate (~150–250 NTU, nephelometric turbidity units) turbidity. Our results suggest that ecosystem‐wide modifications in the living conditions of the benthic epifaunal and infaunal organisms in waterbodies invaded by the mussel are likely significant, although variable locally, regionally, and across taxa.

Ecosystem services provided by the exotic bivalves Dreissena polymorpha, D. rostriformis bugensis, and Limnoperna fortunei

“…In the summer, mussels can potentially filter volumes of water equivalent to those of the entire waterbody in a few days to a few months (Karatayev et al, 1997 , 2007a ; Boltovskoy et al, 2009a ). Mussel filtration has dramatic impacts on lakes and rivers yielding particulate suspended matter reductions of up to over 60%, Secchi disc depth increases up to 200%, and 50–250% increases in light penetration (Karatayev et al, 1997 , 2018a ; Effler & Siegfried, 1998 ; Strayer et al, 1999 ; Boltovskoy et al, 2009a ; Higgins & Vander Zanden, 2010 ; Kelly et al, 2010 ; Higgins, 2014 ; Mayer et al, 2014 ; Barbiero et al, 2018 ; Tokumon et al, 2018 ). In Embalse de Río Tercero (Argentina), L. fortunei was estimated to potentially be able to filter the entire volume of the waterbody (0.48 km 3 ) in 1–2 days (Boltovskoy et al, 2009a ).…”

“…In Embalse de Río Tercero (Argentina), L. fortunei was estimated to potentially be able to filter the entire volume of the waterbody (0.48 km 3 ) in 1–2 days (Boltovskoy et al, 2009a ). Sediment accumulation rates can double after the invasion (Lvova, 1977 , 1979 ; Tokumon et al, 2018 ), and the percent of organic matter in the sediments associated with the mussels increase up to threefold (Howell et al, 1996 ; Roditi et al, 1997 ; Sardiña et al, 2008 ; Tokumon et al, 2018 ).…”

“…After the introduction of L. fortunei in Río Tercero Reservoir (Argentina), total N increased by ~ 270%, chiefly due to ammonia, whereas the concentrations of nitrites and nitrates did not change significantly. In experimental conditions, N was observed to increase in the sediments (Tokumon et al, 2018 ) and in the water column (Cataldo et al, 2012a ) in response to the presence of L. fortunei , but experimental settings may not reflect system-wide responses adequately (Higgins & Vander Zanden, 2010 ; Higgins, 2014 ; Tokumon et al, 2018 ).…”

“…The effect of increased habitat complexity in mussel aggregations is reinforced by the trophic subsidy of the mussels due to their organic matter-rich feces and pseudofeces, partly retained within the colonies, and partly dispersed around them on the sediment surface. Field studies, sediment trap, mesocosm, and enclosure experiments indicate that organic matter, carbon, and total mass fluxes to the benthos are strongly increased in the presence of these mussels (Gergs et al, 2009 ; Cataldo et al, 2012b ; Ozersky et al, 2015 ; Tokumon et al, 2018 ), enhancing the food subsidy for benthic deposit feeders (Karatayev et al, 1994a , 2002 , 2007a , b ; Karatayev & Burlakova, 1992 , 1995 ; Botts & Patterson, 1996 ; Stewart et al, 1998 ; Burlakova et al, 2005 , 2012 ; Sylvester & Sardiña, 2015 ).…”

Bioaccumulation of Metals and Evaluation of Golden Mussels Encrusted on Different Screens of Net Cages

“…The entry of exotic species into ecosystems, especially aquatic ones, can lead to biodiversity losses, mainly due to losses of native species and imbalances in the natural ecosystem (Tokumon et al, 2018). Due to the problems that are invading mollusks causing in aquatic ecosystems and industrial and productive activities, the number of studies covering the characterization and survey of these invasive species has increased (Freire and Marafon, 2018).…”