Non-marine Mollusca

Auffenberg, Kurt; Quitmyer, Irvy R.; Williams, James D.; Jones, D. S.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-4694-0_9

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…These rivers have also become faunally dissimilar from one another through the differential loss of native freshwater species, the regionally variable spread of the introduced species M. tuberculata and C. fluminea, and encroachment of V. usnea into the coastally influenced lower Wakulla River. Whereas the decline in freshwater mollusk diversity was previously suggested based on fossils in Florida (Auffenberg et al, 2006), this study demonstrates that different river systems experienced diverging compositional shifts that resulted in increased faunal heterogeneity on a regional scale.…”

Section: Diverging Live Communitiessupporting

confidence: 40%

“…), live mollusks are rarely documented via quantitative sampling and are often relegated to passing mentions in larger faunal surveys. Because their shells have high preservation potential, however, mollusks are more readily recorded in the freshwater fossil record of Florida, and often documented in detail when found in fossil deposits (Portell et al, 1995;Karrow et al, 1996;Auffenberg et al, 2006;Kittle and Portell, 2010;Portell and Kittle, 2010). Below, we compare general abundances of species in our study with their previously published records in present-day local and regional river systems as well as in fluvial (or fluvial-adjacent) Pleistocene fossil deposits of Florida.…”

Section: Comparative Local and Regional Faunal Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The comparative data from other fossil sites in the region includes three sites that are summarized here briefly. The first fossil locality, the Page-Ladson site, lies on the Aucilla River in Jefferson County, approximately 30 km SE of the sampled Wakulla River sites (Auffenberg et al, 2006). Fossiliferous deposits containing freshwater mollusks were radiocarbon dated to between ∼12,500 and 9,950 BP (Auffenberg et al, 2006;Webb and Dunbar, 2006).…”

Section: Comparative Local and Regional Faunal Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first fossil locality, the Page-Ladson site, lies on the Aucilla River in Jefferson County, approximately 30 km SE of the sampled Wakulla River sites (Auffenberg et al, 2006). Fossiliferous deposits containing freshwater mollusks were radiocarbon dated to between ∼12,500 and 9,950 BP (Auffenberg et al, 2006;Webb and Dunbar, 2006). The paleoenvironment was interpreted as having been shallow (< 3 m) and freshwater (Auffenberg et al, 2006).…”

Section: Comparative Local and Regional Faunal Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fossiliferous deposits containing freshwater mollusks were radiocarbon dated to between ∼12,500 and 9,950 BP (Auffenberg et al, 2006;Webb and Dunbar, 2006). The paleoenvironment was interpreted as having been shallow (< 3 m) and freshwater (Auffenberg et al, 2006). The second locality, the Oldsmar site in Pinellas County, contains a non-marine, fossiliferous clay and sand layer of the late Pleistocene Fort Thompson Formation (Karrow et al, 1996) and lies approximately 150 km SW of sites sampled along the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers.…”

Section: Comparative Local and Regional Faunal Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-Term Shifts in Faunal Composition of Freshwater Mollusks in Spring-Fed Rivers of Florida

et al. 2022

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Florida’s freshwater spring and river ecosystems have been deteriorating due to direct and indirect human impacts. However, while the conservation and restoration strategies employed to mitigate these effects often rely on faunal surveys that go back several decades, the local ecosystem shifts tend to have much deeper roots that predate those faunal surveys by centuries or millennia. Conservation paleobiology, an approach which enhances our understanding of the past states of ecosystems, allows for comparison of modern faunal communities with those prior to significant human impacts. This study examines the historical record of freshwater mollusk assemblages from two spring-fed river systems, the Wakulla and Silver/Ocklawaha Rivers. Specifically, we compared fossil assemblages (latest Pleistocene - early Holocene) and live mollusk assemblages in the two targeted river systems. Bulk sampling of the fossil record (20 sites; 70 samples; 16,314 specimens) documented relatively diverse mollusk assemblages that consist of a suite of native freshwater species that is similar across the studied systems. In contrast, sampling of live communities (24 sites; 138 samples; 7,572 specimens) revealed depauperate species assemblies characterized by the absence of multiple native freshwater species commonly found in fossil samples, the widespread presence of introduced species, and dominance of brackish-tolerant species at the lower Wakulla River sites. Unlike fossil mollusk assemblages, live mollusk assemblages differ notably between the two river systems due to differences in relative abundance of introduced species (Melanoides tuberculata and Corbicula fluminea) and the presence of brackish-tolerant mollusks in the coastally influenced Wakulla River. The diverse, exclusively freshwater mollusk associations comparable across multiple river systems documented in the fossil record provide a historical perspective on the past state of freshwater river ecosystems complementing data provided by modern surveys. The conservation paleobiology approach used in this study reinforces the importance of considering the historical ecology of an ecosystem and the utility of the fossil record in providing a historical perspective on long-term faunal changes.

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Section: Diverging Live Communitiessupporting

confidence: 40%

Section: Comparative Local and Regional Faunal Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%