Abstract
We measured the clearance rates of the filter-feeding bivalve Corbicula fluminea over a period of 2 years. Strong seasonal variations, such as a 50-fold increase from February to July, were observed. These variations were only poorly linked to temperature, as they could be found at both the ambient field temperature and a constant temperature of 15°C. Instead, peaks in the filtration activity corresponded to the spawning activity. Additionally, a strong interannual variability with much lower clearance rates in 2009 than in 2008 was identified. The low clearance rates were linked to a preceding period of low winter temperatures close to the lethal temperature of 2°C and the associated reduced reproduction rates. Our findings demonstrate that other factors besides temperature and body mass can strongly affect clearance rates. These results should be considered when predicting the effects of changing temperatures on the ecosystem impact of filter-feeding bivalves.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldridge DW, McMahon RF (1978) Growth, fecundity, and bioenergetics in a natural population of the Asiatic freshwater clam, Corbicula manilensis Philippi, from North Central Texas. J Moll Stud 44:49–70
Aldridge DW, Payne BS, Miller AC (1995) Oxygen consumption, nitrogenous excretion, and filtration rates of Dreissena polymorpha at acclimation temperatures between 20 and 32°C. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 52:1761–1767
Araujo R, Moreno D, Ramos MA (1993) The Asiatic clam Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774) (Bivalvia: Corbiculidae) in Europe. Am Malacol Bull 10:39–49
Benjamin RB (1978) The seasonal filtration pattern of the freshwater clam, Musculium partumeium (Say). M. S. thesis, University of Dayton
Benjamin RB, Burky AJ (1978) Filtration dynamics in the sphaeriid clam, Musculium partumeium (Say). Bull Am Malacol Union Inc 44:60
Britton JC, Morton B (1982) A dissection guide, field, and laboratory manual to the introduced bivalve Corbicula fluminea. Malacol Rev 3:1–82
Britton JC, Morton B (1986) Polymorphism in Corbicula fluminea (Bivalvia: Corbiculoidea) from North America. Malacol Rev 19:1–43
Caracao NF, Cole JJ, Strayer DL (2006) Top-down control from the bottom: regulation of eutrophication in a large river by benthic grazing. Limnol Oceanogr 51:664–670
Cataldo D, Boltovskoy D (1999) Population dynamics of Corbicula fluminea (Bivalvia) in the Paraná River Delta (Argentina). Hydrobiologia 380:153–163
Cohen RRH, Dresler PV, Phillips EJP, Cory RL (1984) The effect of the Asiatic clam, Corbicula fluminea, on phytoplankton of the Potomac River, Maryland. Limnol Oceanogr 29:170–180
Doherty FG, Cherry DS, Cairns JJ (1987) Spawning periodicity of the Asiatic clam Corbicula fluminea in the New River. Virginia Am Midl Nat 117(1):71–82
Hornbach DJ, Wissing TE, Burky AJ (1982) Life-history characteristics of a stream population of the freshwater clam, Sphaerium striatinum Lamarck (Bivalvia: Pisidiidae). Can J Zool 60:249–260
Hornbach DJ, Way CM, Wissing TE, Burky AJ (1984) Effects of particle concentration and season on the filtration rates of the freshwater clam, Sphaerium striatinum Lamarck (Bivalvia: Pisiidae). Hydrobiologia 108:83–96
King CA, Langdon CJ, Counts CL (1986) Spawning and early development of Corbicula fluminea (Bivalvia: Corbiculidae) in laboratory culture. Am Malacol Bull 4:81–88
Kinzelbach R (1995) Neozoans in European waters-exemplifying the worldwide process of invasion and species mixing. Experientia 51:526–538
Lactin DJ, Holliday NJ, Johnson DL, Craigen R (1995) Improved rate model of temperature-dependent development by arthropods. Environ Entomol 24:68–75
Lauritsen DD (1986) Filter-feeding in Corbicula fluminea and its effect on seston removal. J N Am Benthol Soc 5:165–172
Lewandowski K, Stancykowska A (1975) The occurrence and role of bivalves of the family Unionidae in Mikolajskie Lake. Ekol Polska 23:317–344
Mattice JS, Dye LL (1976) Thermal tolerance of adult Asiatic clam. In: Esch GW, McFarlane RW (eds) Thermal ecology 2, Washington DC, pp. 130–135
McMahon RF (1983) Ecology of an invasive pest bivalve, Corbicula. In: Russel-Hunter WD (ed) The Mollusca, Volume 6: Ecology, New York, pp. 505–561
McMahon RF (1999) Invasive characteristics of the freshwater bivalve, Corbicula fluminea. In: Claudi R, Leach JH (eds) Nonindigenous freshwater organisms: vectors, biology, and impacts. Florida, Boca Raton, pp 315–346
Meister A (1997) Lebenszyklus, Autökologie und Populationsökologie der Körbchenmuschel Corbicula fluminea und Corbicula fluminalis (Bivalvia, Corbiculidae) im Inselrhein. Technische Universität Darmstadt, Dissertation
Morton B (1977) The population dynamics of Corbicula fluminea (Bivalvia: Corbiculacea) in Plover Cove Reservoir, Hong Kong. J Zool 181:21–41
Müller O, Baur B (2011) Survival of the invasive clam Corbicula fluminea (Müller) in response to winter water temperature. Malacologia 53:367–371
Nalepa TF, Gardnder WS, Malczyk JM (1991) Phosphorus cycling by mussels (Unionidae: Bivalvia) in Lake St Clair. Hydrobiologia 219:230–250
Park RA, Clough JS, Wellmann MC (2008) AQUATOX: modeling environmental fate and ecological effects in aquatic ecosystems. Ecol Model 213:1–15
Peters RH, Downing JA (1984) Empirical analysis of zooplankton filtering and feeding rates. Limnol Oceanogr 29:763–784
Prokopovich NP (1969) Deposition of clastic sediments by clams. J Sediment Petrol 30:891–901
Rajagopal S, van der Velde G, bij de Vaate A (2000) Reproductive biology of the Asiatic clams Corbicula fluminalis and Corbicula fluminea in the River Rhine. Arch Hydrobiol 149:403–420
Sanford E (1999) Regulation of keystone predation by small changes in ocean temperature. Science 283:2095–2097
Schöl A, Kirchesch V, Bergfeld T, Schöll F, Borcherding J, Müller D (2002) Modelling the chlorophyll a content of the River Rhine—interrelation between riverine algal production and population biomass of grazers, rotifers and the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha. Int Rev Hydrobiol 87:295–317
Sprung M, Rose U (1988) Influence of food size and food quantity on the feeding of the mussel Dreissena polymorpha. Oecologia 77:526–532
Strayer DL, Caraco NF, Cole JJ, Findlay S, Pace ML (1999) Transformation of freshwater ecosystems by bivalves. Bioscience 49:19–27
Sylvester F, Dorado J, Boltovskoy D, Juarez A, Cataldo D (2005) Filtration rates of the invasive pest bivalve Limnoperna fortunei as a function of size and temperature. Hydrobiologia 534:71–80
Troost K (2010) Causes and effects of a highly successful marine invasion: case-study of the introduced Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas in continental NW European estuaries. J Sea Res 64:145–165
Viergutz CR, Kathol M, Norf H, Arndt H, Weitere M (2007) Control of microbial communities by the macrofauna: a sensitive interaction in the context of extreme summer temperatures? Oecologia 151:115–124
Way CM, Hornbach DJ, Miller-Way CA, Payne BS, Miller AC (1990) Dynamics of filter feeding in Corbicula fluminea (Bivalvia: Corbiculidae). Can J Zool 68:115–120
Weitere M, Dahlmann J, Viergutz C, Arndt H (2008) Differential grazer-mediated effects of high summer temperatures on pico- and nanoplankton communities. Limnol Oceanogr 53:477–486
Weitere M, Vohmann A, Schulz N, Linn C, Dietrich D, Arndt H (2009) Linking environmental warming to the fitness of the invasive clam Corbicula fluminea. Global Change Biol 15:2838–2851
Acknowledgments
This study is part of the priority programme AQUASHIFT funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, Project WE 3545/1-3). The data for the chlorophyll concentrations in the Rhine were provided by the “Landesumweltamt NRW” (Düsseldorf, Germany). We thank Dr. Georg Becker for preparing and providing temperature data from the Ecological Rhine Station Cologne and Frederic Bartlett and Désirée Dietrich for corrections and critical comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by U. Sommer.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Viergutz, C., Linn, C. & Weitere, M. Intra- and interannual variability surpasses direct temperature effects on the clearance rates of the invasive clam Corbicula fluminea . Mar Biol 159, 2379–2387 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1902-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1902-0