2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/21/2018 | 2:30 PM - 2:45 PM | THE ROLE OF THE MISSING DEAD IN NORTH AMERICAN RIVERS | 321
THE ROLE OF THE MISSING DEAD IN NORTH AMERICAN RIVERS
While leaf litter, wood, and other terrestrial plant remnants are known to play a central role in lotic ecosystems, animal remnants (carcasses, bones, shells) have received less attention. Here we estimate the magnitude and effect that three different animal legacies may formerly have played in North American rivers: (1) terrestrial megafauna; (2) snapping turtles; and (3) mussels. North America once supported a diverse assemblage of megafauna, many of which were migratory and could have provided regionally important subsidies of carcasses. Snapping turtles were once common enough to support a major commercial riverine fishery, but populations collapsed in the 1970s and recovery has been slow. Mussels were extensively harvested in the first three decades of the 20th century until populations collapsed, again with limited recovery. We use historical records, measured decay rates and simple extrapolations to estimate the role that animal bones, turtle shells and mussel shells may have played in nutrient cycling and in physically structuring North American rivers. We conclude that in at least some regions these roles were substantial, and we argue that our models of these rivers are incomplete without consideration of these lost legacies.
- Nutrients
- Allochthonous
- Mussel
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Presenters/Authors
Seth Wenger
(), University of Georgia, sethwenger@fastmail.fm;
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Amanda Subalusky
(), University of Florida, asubalusky@ufl.edu;
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Mary Freeman
(), US Geological Survey, mcfreeman@usgs.gov;
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