TY - JOUR
T1 - Conservation Status of Freshwater Gastropods of Canada and the United States
T2 - Estado de la conservación de los gasterópodos de Canadá y los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica
AU - Johnson, Paul D.
AU - Bogan, Arthur E.
AU - Brown, Kenneth M.
AU - Burkhead, Noel M.
AU - Cordeiro, James R.
AU - Garner, Jeffrey T.
AU - Hartfield, Paul D.
AU - Lepitzki, Dwayne A.W.
AU - Mackie, Gerry L.
AU - Pip, Eva
AU - Tarpley, Thomas A.
AU - Tiemann, Jeremy S.
AU - Whelan, Nathan V.
AU - Strong, Ellen E.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Jamie Smith, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sci- ences, for generating Figure 3. We are grateful to the numerous museum curators who provided access to the collections under their care during the preparation of this database. We also thank AFS Fisheries staff and especially Endangered Species Chair Howard Jelks for their assistance in publication. We thank Paul Callo- mon, Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia, for his technical as- sistance in photographing the micro planorbids. We thank Steve Ahlstedt for his assistance with the review process and his innumerable contributions to freshwater mollusk conservation over the years. Randall Haddock of the Cahaba River Society and Paul Freeman of the Nature Conservancy of Alabama contributed photographs. Thanks are extended to Buck Albert (Cherokee Nation Technology Solutions) and Howard Jelks (U.S. Geological Survey), Gainesville, Florida, for development of the website. We also gratefully acknowledge the contributions of two anonymous reviewers. Finally, a special thanks to Jim Williams, whose invaluable assistance facilitated completion of this assessment. This work was supported in part from various funding sources including the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Smithsonian Institution, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - This is the first American Fisheries Society conservation assessment of freshwater gastropods (snails) from Canada and the United States by the Gastropod Subcommittee (Endangered Species Committee). This review covers 703 species representing 16 families and 93 genera, of which 67 species are considered extinct, or possibly extinct, 278 are endangered, 102 are threatened, 73 are vulnerable, 157 are currently stable, and 26 species have uncertain taxonomic status. Of the entire fauna, 74% of gastropods are imperiled (vulnerable, threatened, endangered) or extinct, which exceeds imperilment levels in fishes (39%) and crayfishes (48%) but is similar to that of mussels (72%). Comparison of modern to background extinction rates reveals that gastropods have the highest modern extinction rate yet observed, 9,539 times greater than background rates. Gastropods are highly susceptible to habitat loss and degradation, particularly narrow endemics restricted to a single spring or short stream reaches. Compilation of this review was hampered by a paucity of current distributional information and taxonomic uncertainties. Although research on several fronts including basic biology, physiology, conservation strategies, life history, and ecology are needed, systematics and curation of museum collections and databases coupled with comprehensive status surveys (geographic limits, threat identification) are priorities.
AB - This is the first American Fisheries Society conservation assessment of freshwater gastropods (snails) from Canada and the United States by the Gastropod Subcommittee (Endangered Species Committee). This review covers 703 species representing 16 families and 93 genera, of which 67 species are considered extinct, or possibly extinct, 278 are endangered, 102 are threatened, 73 are vulnerable, 157 are currently stable, and 26 species have uncertain taxonomic status. Of the entire fauna, 74% of gastropods are imperiled (vulnerable, threatened, endangered) or extinct, which exceeds imperilment levels in fishes (39%) and crayfishes (48%) but is similar to that of mussels (72%). Comparison of modern to background extinction rates reveals that gastropods have the highest modern extinction rate yet observed, 9,539 times greater than background rates. Gastropods are highly susceptible to habitat loss and degradation, particularly narrow endemics restricted to a single spring or short stream reaches. Compilation of this review was hampered by a paucity of current distributional information and taxonomic uncertainties. Although research on several fronts including basic biology, physiology, conservation strategies, life history, and ecology are needed, systematics and curation of museum collections and databases coupled with comprehensive status surveys (geographic limits, threat identification) are priorities.
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U2 - 10.1080/03632415.2013.785396
DO - 10.1080/03632415.2013.785396
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84879055668
SN - 0363-2415
VL - 38
SP - 247
EP - 282
JO - Fisheries
JF - Fisheries
IS - 6
ER -