Influence of historical exploitation and recovery of biological resources on contemporary status of Margaritifera margaritifera L. and Salmo salar L. populations in Northwestern Russia

Conservation status of freshwater mussels in Europe: state of the art and future challenges

“…Strict laws now prohibit these activities but poaching continues in some countries (e.g. Scotland and Russia) (Hastie, 2006;Bolotov et al, 2012). Until the 1990s, a craft industry existed in the Region of Aragon, Spain, for the use of M. auricularia nacre to make buttons and decorate jack-knife hilts (Álvarez, 1998).…”

Research priorities for freshwater mussel conservation assessment

“…Trends in abundance or distribution are a central consideration in assigning a threat rankings to species. Species trends can be revealed by comparing current and historical data on population sizes and distributions (Bolotov et al, 2012). For example, in France, species distribution models were used to infer range contraction, comparing the extent of occurrence predicted by the models to the currently known extent of occurrence of seven freshwater mussel species .…”

“…An understanding of habitat requirementsleading to development of mussel species distribution modelscan be based on field surveys, published information, historical data (including museum collections) on freshwater mussel presence, and local knowledge (Bolotov et al, 2012;. Both natural and anthropogenic factors are important in modelling suitable habitat characteristics to predict species distributions (Mynsberge et al, 2009), including current and historical climates, catchment and stream characteristics, water and sediment characteristics, floral and faunal assemblages, and anthropogenic threats (Strayer, 1999;Howard and Cuffey, 2003;Geist and Auerswald, 2007;Inoue et al, 2015;Klunzinger et al, 2015).…”

Trace element composition of freshwater pearl mussels Margaritifera spp. across Eurasia: Testing the effect of species and geographic location

“…Recent species are associated with the North American continent, Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and some areas of eastern and southeastern Asia (Ziuganov et al, 1994;Smith, 2001;Bogan & Roe, 2008). Freshwater pearl mussels demand a certain habitat quality and exist in a narrow range of environmental conditions (Geist, 2010;Bolotov et al, 2012). Most species inhabit only oligotrophic rivers and streams; the optimal mesohabitats include riffles and runs with gravel as the prevalent riverbed substrate (Smith, 2001).…”

“…Most species inhabit only oligotrophic rivers and streams; the optimal mesohabitats include riffles and runs with gravel as the prevalent riverbed substrate (Smith, 2001). In recent decades, all species of Margaritifera have become threatened due to habitat degradation, water pollution and decreased host fish abundance (Arajo et al, 2009;Bolotov et al, 2012;Makhrov et al, 2013).…”