Move Over European Eel for An Endangered Species in Oklahoma Rivers

In an earlier post, I spoke about the reduced eel population in European rivers. The author referred to this as “A Biodiversity Domino”. It looks as though there is an opportunity to add another domino to the issue of species extinction.

This time, it is occurring in the rivers of the State of Oklahoma.

The article from today’s Science Daily: Environmental Change Impacts Oklahoma Rivers (02/2010) suggests that we need to be concerned about the decline in freshwater species because they “provide many goods and services for humans." There are common "factors [which] underlie these declines [to] include water pollution, habitat destruction and degradation, and environmental changes.”

It seems that “freshwater biodiversity is also threatened by climate change which is predicted to alter species ranges and abundance."

The species in question are freshwater mussels - yep, mussels!

Apparently, Oklahoma’s rivers contain 55 of the 300 species of freshwater mussels found in the United States! Over 50 percent of these 300 species are declining.

Like the European eel, mussels provide an important benefit to freshwater river systems. “Mussels feed by filtering material from the water with their gills, thus mussels act as a bio- filtration system in freshwater ecosystems.”

The researcher summarizes the issue very simply: "Water is our most precious resource. Sustainable water quantity and quality is a fundamental need of both wildlife and humans and is a critical component for economic growth."