Non-native mollusks throughout South America: emergent patterns in an understudied continent

Abstract

Non-native species have been introduced at escalating rates during the last decades, mainly due to the dispersion generated by the increasing trade and transport worldwide. Mollusks, the second largest metazoan phylum in terms of species richness, are no exception to this pattern, but, to date, a comprehensive synthesis of non-native mollusk species (NNMS) in South America was not available. For this purpose, an e-discussion group was formed with malacologists and taxonomists from South America, where we exchanged and analyzed bibliography, databases and information about NNMS, providing expert opinion to this assessment. The first list of non-native mollusk species for South America, considering terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments, includes 86 NNMS distributed in 152 ecoregions (terrestrial, freshwater and marine) of the 189 recognized for the South American continent. Information on their native region, vectors, first record for South America and distribution, are also provided. In the analysis of the distribution of the NNMS and the entry points of each species (e.g., ports, cargo and passenger airports, cities) and status of conservation of the ecoregions, four hot spots were recognized: Subtropical-Atlantic,

The relevance of ecoregions and mountainous environments in the diversity and endemism of land gastropods

“…Land gastropods (native + non-native) in Argentina comprise 270 species belonging to 80 genera, 38 families, and 20 superfamilies (Table 1S). From this total number, 28 species in 17 families are non-native, mainly from European or southeastern Asian origin (Darrigran et al, 2020; Rumi et al, 2010). Odontostomidae, Bulimulidae (Orthalicoidea), Epiphragmophoridae (Helicoidea), and Charopidae (Punctoidea) are the most speciose families.…”

“…Some regional species lists support major species richness in Brazil, Peru (Ramírez et al, 2003; Salgado and Coelho, 2003), and a major phylogenetic diversity in Colombia and Ecuador, although more in-depth and more complete biodiversity studies on native species should be carried out. Remarkably, an opposite situation occurs with the study of invasive species in South America, where detailed researches have been carried out as a consequence of the economic interest they attract (Darrigran et al, 2020).…”

The conservation status of the world’s freshwater molluscs

“…Introduction of non-native species (potential invasive species) is a main cause of biodiversity loss (Gallardo et al 2018). Darrigran et al (2020) identified four hotspot areas for non-native species of molluscs (both aquatic and terrestrial) in South America, which require special attention for biodiversity conservation, not only because they are potential entry points for non-native species, but also because they coincide with hotspots of high endemism (Darrigran et al 2020). Identifying entry points of non-native molluscs, such as through large cities, ports, or airports (Darrigran et al 2020), are a vital step to identify hotspots for conservation action.…”

Dinámica larval del mejillón dorado Limnoperna fortunei en el embalse de Aguas Corrientes, río Santa Lucía, Uruguay

“…El asentamiento de L. fortunei en los ecosistemas ha presentado un alto impacto tanto en el ambiente natural (Darrigran y Damborenea, 2011) como en las infraestructuras humanas (Darrigran, et al, 2020). Se han documentado cambios en la comunidad bentónica (Linares, et al, 2017;Silva, et al, 2020), fitoplanctónica (Boltovskoy, et al, 2015a(Boltovskoy, et al, , 2013 y zooplanctónica (Rojas Molina, et al, 2015), así como su capacidad de incorporarse a las tramas tróficas de los peces (Garcia y Protogino, 2005;González-Bergonzoni, et al, 2020;Penchaszadeh, et al, 2000).…”