A recent research study has actually uncovered that people gather 801 bivalve types, 720 more than previously understood. While these species possess characteristics decreasing their termination risk, increasing human need endangers them. The research stresses sustainable management and preservation for their continued survival. Credit: Brittany M. Hance and James D. Tiller, Smithsonian
Researchers caution that harvests must be sustainably managed to preserve populations for future generations.
In a new research study, researchers Stewart Edie of the Smithsonian, Shan Huang of the University of Birmingham, and associates have substantially expanded the list of bivalve types, such as clams, oysters, mussels, scallops and their loved ones, that humans are understood to harvest. Theyve also recognized the specific characteristics that make these types desirable for harvesting.
In addition, they discovered that a few of these traits have traditionally lowered their possibility of extinction and may continue to offer protection in the future. The scientists highlighted certain oceanic areas like the east Atlantic and the northeast and southeast Pacific as particularly important for focused management and conservation.
Four bivalve types found along the Maine coast provided together in a bed of seaweed at low tide. Clockwise from the leading right is a Northern quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria), an Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), a steamer clam (Mya arenaria), and a blue mussel (Mytilus edulis). Credit: Danielle Hall, Smithsonian
Expanding the List of Harvested Bivalves
The research study, published today (August 15) in the journal Nature Communications, discovers that people exploit some 801 species of bivalves. That figure includes 720 types to the 81 noted in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Production Database, calling attention to the huge diversity of shellfish humans are understood to consume and collect.
Stewart Edie, the National Museum of Natural Historys curator of fossil bivalves, explained that many characteristics making these bivalve species appealing for human intake at the same time minimize their termination risk. Specifically, their capability to live in various climates worldwide and adapt to varied temperature levels provides strength versus natural termination aspects. Increasing human need for these species could jeopardize them and their surrounding communities.
Scientific illustration of made use of shellfish from a number of bivalve families (Pectinidae, Tellinidae, Cardiidae, Veneridae, Pinnidae, Spondylidae, and Arcidae). Source: Encyclopaedia londinensis, or, Universal dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature. Credit: Image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library
Human Impact on Bivalves
” Were fortunate that the types we eat also tend to be more resistant to extinction,” said Edie. “But humans can change the environment in the geologic blink of an eye, and we need to sustainably manage these species so they are available for generations that will come after us.”
” It is rather paradoxical that a few of the qualities that make bivalve types less susceptible to extinction also make them even more appealing as a food source, being bigger, and found in shallower waters in a larger geographical location,” said Huang. “The human impact, therefore, can disproportionately get rid of the strong types. By identifying these species and getting them acknowledged worldwide, responsible fishing can diversify the types that are gathered and avoid making oysters the dodos of the sea.”
Stewart Edie, curator of fossil bivalves at the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History. Credit: Jim Wood, Smithsonian
Historic Context and Overexploitation
For centuries, bivalve mollusks such as clams, scallops, mussels and oysters have actually filtered water and have fed human beings. The indigenous Calusa people in Estero Bay, Florida, sustainably harvested an estimated 18.6 billion oysters and built an entire island and 30-foot-high mounds out of their shells.
The history of human beings gathering bivalves is also rife with examples of overexploitation, largely by European colonizers and mechanized commercial fisheries, that led to collapses of oyster populations in locations consisting of Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Botany Bay near Sydney, Australia.
Research Methodology and Findings
After recognizing and studying the clinical literature that there was no comprehensive list of all the types understood to be targeted by fisheries, Edie and his co-authors set off to document the variety of bivalves used by human beings.
After collating all the types they discovered pointed out in more than 100 previous studies, the researchers started investigating possible similarities and patterns amongst the 801 bivalves on the list. The team taken a look at which characteristics make a bivalve exploitable by human beings and how those characteristics relate to their threat of extinction.
The research study found that people tend to gather bivalves that are large-bodied, take place in shallow waters, inhabit a broad geographical location, and survive in a big range of temperatures. Those last 2 traits also make most made use of bivalve species less prone to the type of extinction pressures and dangers that have actually erased species from the fossil record in the ancient past.
Future Implications and Aims
The researchers hope their data enhances preservation and management choices in the future. Specifically, their list recognizes regions and types as being especially susceptible to extinction. In a comparable vein, the list might assist determine types that need further study to assess their current danger of extinction.
Next, Edie said he wishes to utilize the characteristics related to exploited bivalves to examine the bivalve types that are not presently known to be collected by individuals.
” We wish to utilize what we gained from this study to determine any bivalves that are being collected that we do not currently understand about,” said Edie. “To handle bivalve populations effectively, we need to have a complete photo of what species people are gathering.”
Referral: “Diversity, distribution and intrinsic termination vulnerability of exploited marine bivalves” 15 August 2023, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-023-40053-y.
This research study becomes part of the museums Ocean Science Center, which looks for to catalyze modification and action by advancing knowledge of the ocean and sharing it with the clinical neighborhood, policymakers, and the public. The research study also supports the Smithsonians Life on a Sustainable Planet initiative, a major effort to collect new data about the altering world, implement holistic and multi-scale approaches to environmental conservation and educate the world about why and how sustainable options to environment change can benefit people and nature.
This research study was supported by the Smithsonian, the German Research Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation.
A recent research study has actually uncovered that humans collect 801 bivalve types, 720 more than previously known. 4 bivalve types found along the Maine coast presented together in a bed of seaweed at low tide. Stewart Edie, the National Museum of Natural Historys curator of fossil bivalves, pointed out that many characteristics making these bivalve species appealing for human consumption at the same time decrease their extinction danger.” It is somewhat paradoxical that some of the traits that make bivalve types less susceptible to extinction also make them far more attractive as a food source, being larger, and discovered in shallower waters in a wider geographical location,” stated Huang. By identifying these types and getting them recognized around the world, responsible fishing can diversify the types that are collected and avoid making oysters the dodos of the sea.”
