Times are tough for 31 of
Michigan's 45 varieties of freshwater mussels. Sporting evocative names like
wavy-rayed lampmussel and round pigtoe, these residents of the state's rivers
are imperiled by habitat disruption and pollution and are also threatened by
climate change.
Michigan State University (MSU)
scientists' recommendation to figure out the best places to focus conservation
efforts: Worry about fish.
In this month's journal
Hydrobiologia, researchers say that if you care about those wavy-rayed
lampmussels and round pigtoes, then you also must care about Michigan's johnny
darters and rosyfaced shiners.
This research group for the first
time creates models that acknowledge how tightly the fate of mussels and fish
are entwined in the state's ecosystems and helps chart a path for conservation
managers to save the mussels. Mussels filter water - a single one can clean up
20-30 gallons a day - as they eat, and excrete nutrients upon which other water
organisms can feast. Their shells are important terrain for algae and insect
larvae to attach, and mussels are an important food source for some aquatic
critters.
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