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The conservation status of the world’s freshwater molluscs

  • FRESHWATER MOLLUSCS
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Abstract

With the biodiversity crisis continuing unchecked, we need to establish levels and drivers of extinction risk, and reassessments over time, to effectively allocate conservation resources and track progress towards global conservation targets. Given that threat appears particularly high in freshwaters, we assessed the extinction risk of 1428 randomly selected freshwater molluscs using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, as part of the Sampled Red List Index project. We show that close to one-third of species in our sample are estimated to be threatened with extinction, with highest levels of threat in the Nearctic, Palearctic and Australasia and among gastropods. Threat levels were higher in lotic than lentic systems. Pollution (chemical and physical) and the modification of natural systems (e.g. through damming and water abstraction) were the most frequently reported threats to freshwater molluscs, with some regional variation. Given that we found little spatial congruence between species richness patterns of freshwater molluscs and other freshwater taxa, apart from crayfish, new additional conservation priority areas emerged from our study. We discuss the implications of our findings for freshwater mollusc conservation, the adequacy of a sampled approach and important next steps to estimate trends in freshwater mollusc extinction risk over time.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to our co-author, friend and mentor Ben Collen, champion of the sampled approach to Red Listing and friend of understudied species. The authors would like to acknowledge the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (NIDR and MB) and the Rufford Foundation (MB) for their generous support. MV is supported by the Russian Fund for Basic Research (project No. 19-04-00270). We are grateful to the Biodiversity Synthesis Center for funding a major assessment workshop in London in 2010. For data compilation and workshop group facilitation, we thank Anne-Marie Soulsby, Ellie Dyer, Felix Whitton, Gita Kasthala and Shane McGuinness; for additional work on draft assessments, we thank Clare Duncan, Amy Collins, Kirsten McMillan, Suzanne Offord, Julia Thorley, Rebecca Herdson, Harriet Milligan, Greta Carrete-Vega and Jordi Corbella.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK

    Monika Böhm, Nadia I. Dewhurst-Richman & Sophie E. H. Ledger

  2. Department of Geography, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Nadia I. Dewhurst-Richman

  3. IUCN SSC Mollusc Specialist Group, Devon, UK

    Mary Seddon

  4. Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Systematics and Biodiversity Group, Justus Liebig University Giessen, H.-Buff-Ring 26-32 (IFZ), 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Christian Albrecht

  5. IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), Red List Unit, IUCN Global Species Programme, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK

    David Allen, Craig Hilton-Taylor & Caroline M. Pollock

  6. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC, 27601, USA

    Arthur E. Bogan

  7. Department of Biology, Bridgewater State University, 131 Summer Street, Bridgewater, MA, 02324, USA

    Jay Cordeiro

  8. Massachusetts Audubon Society, 345 Bone Hill Road, Cummaquid, MA, 02637, USA

    Jay Cordeiro

  9. Northeast Natural History & Supply, PO Box 361, West Dennis, MA, 02670, USA

    Jay Cordeiro

  10. Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, 1816 S. Oak St, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA

    Kevin S. Cummings

  11. Ch. des Bluets 8, 1009, Pully, Switzerland

    Annabelle Cuttelod

  12. Museo de La Plata, La Plata National University (FCNyM, UNLP), CONICET, Paseo del Bosque sin numero, 1900, La Plata, Argentina

    Gustavo Darrigran

  13. Freshwater Biodiversity Unit, IUCN Global Species Programme, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK

    Will Darwall

  14. Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, H-1088, 13 Baross Street, Budapest, Hungary

    Zoltán Fehér

  15. IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group, c/o Auckland Zoo, Motions Road, Western Springs, Auckland, 1022, New Zealand

    Claudine Gibson

  16. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI, 54481, USA

    Daniel L. Graf

  17. Australian Museum, Australian Museum Research Institute, 1 William Street, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia

    Frank Köhler

  18. CIBIO/InBIO - Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal

    Manuel Lopes-Lima

  19. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Av. Angel Gallardo 470 3° piso lab. 80, C1405DJR, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Guido Pastorino

  20. Biology Department, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 1201 W. University Dr, Edinburg, TX, 78539, USA

    Kathryn E. Perez

  21. Invasive Species Unit, IUCN Global Species Programme, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK

    Kevin Smith

  22. Department of Geology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Dirk van Damme

  23. Laboratory of Macroecology & Biogeography of Invertebrates, Saint-Petersburg State University, 7/9 Universitetskaya Emb., Saint Petersburg, Russia, 199034

    Maxim V. Vinarski

  24. Gothenburg Natural History Museum, Box 7283, 40235, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Ted von Proschwitz

  25. Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, University of Gothenburg, Box 462, 40530, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Ted von Proschwitz

  26. Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany

    Thomas von Rintelen

  27. Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, The David Attenborough Building, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK

    David C. Aldridge

  28. Suri Sehgal Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur PO, Bangalore, 560064, India

    Neelavar A. Aravind

  29. Yenepoya Research Center, Yenepoya University, University Road, Deralakatte, Mangalore, 575018, India

    Neelavar A. Aravind

  30. Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Prem B. Budha

  31. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, 25 de mayo 582 – CC. 399, 11000, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Cristhian Clavijo

  32. Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Do Van Tu

  33. Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Do Van Tu

  34. UMS 2006 PatriNat, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CP41, 36 rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 75005, Paris, France

    Olivier Gargominy

  35. Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Marrakech, Faculté des Sciences, Université Cadi Ayyad, Semlalia, B.P. 2390, Marrakech, Morocco

    Mohamed Ghamizi

  36. Vogelwarte, Zoologisches Institut und Museum, Universität Greifswald, Soldmannstrasse 23, 17489, Greifswald, Germany

    Martin Haase

  37. Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, 2200 Highway 175, Marion, AL, 36756, USA

    Paul D. Johnson

  38. Department of Biology, Science and Arts Faculty, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur, Turkey

    Ümit Kebapçı

  39. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Jasna Lajtner

  40. National Environment Management Authority, P. O. Box 67839, Nairobi, Kenya

    Charles N. Lange

  41. Wildlife Systems Research, P.O. Box 1311, Banff, AB, T1L 1B3, Canada

    Dwayne A.W. Lepitzki

  42. Museu Valencià d’Història Natural & i\Biotaxa, l’Hort de Feliu–Alginet, P.O. Box 8460, 46018, Valencia, Spain

    Alberto Martínez-Ortí

  43. Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Alberto Martínez-Ortí

  44. Department of Zoology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

    Evelyn A. Moorkens

  45. Natural History Museum Bern, Bernastraße 15, 3005, Bern, Switzerland

    Eike Neubert

  46. Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Eike Neubert

  47. Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité ISYEB – Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 57 rue Cuvier, CP26, 75005, Paris, France

    Vincent Prié

  48. Department of Ecology and Systematics, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, 15784, Greece

    Canella Radea

  49. Faculty of Biological Sciences & Natural History Museum, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Avenida Arenales 1256, Jesus Maria, Lima 11, Peru

    Rina Ramirez

  50. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, c/José Gutierrez Abascal, 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Marian A. Ramos

  51. Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, PHLC, Sala 525-2, 20550-900, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Sonia B. Santos

  52. ZOSPEUM, Molluscs, Cave & Karst Biological Consulting, Drnovškova pot 2, 1241, Kamnik, Slovenia

    Rajko Slapnik

  53. The Slovenian Museum of Natural History, Prešernova cesta 20, p.p. 290, SI - 1001, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Rajko Slapnik

  54. Institute of Marine Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 37 Pushkinska St. 65,048, Odessa, Ukraine

    Mikhail O. Son

  55. Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Dyrlægevej 100, 1870, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Anna-Sofie Stensgaard

  56. Center for Macroecology, Evolution & Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Anna-Sofie Stensgaard

  57. Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Ben Collen

Authors
  1. Monika Böhm
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  2. Nadia I. Dewhurst-Richman
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  44. Canella Radea
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  51. Ben Collen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Monika Böhm.

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Guest editors: Manuel P. M. Lopes-Lima, Nicoletta Riccardi, Maria Urbanska & Ronaldo G. Sousa / Biology and Conservation of Freshwater Molluscs

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Böhm, M., Dewhurst-Richman, N.I., Seddon, M. et al. The conservation status of the world’s freshwater molluscs. Hydrobiologia 848, 3231–3254 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04385-w

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