Data from: Enigmatic freshwater mussel declines could be explained by the biodiversity-disease relationship

Name: Enigmatic freshwater mussel declines could be explained by the biodiversity-disease relationship
Creator: Joshua Brian

Brian, Joshua1

Published Jul 12, 2023; Updated Jan 16, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ngf1vhj0k

Data files

Jul 12, 2023 version files 23.24 KB

Jan 16, 2024 version files 23.12 KB

Abstract

The biodiversity-disease relationship states that increased species richness leads to lower pathogen pressure (i.e., the dilution effect), an effect that erodes with biodiversity loss. However, whether losses of the dilution effect can trigger extinction cascades remains largely unexplored.

To explore this idea, we consider declines in freshwater mussels, on average the most threatened non-marine group of organisms in the world. We argue that anthropogenically-stimulated declines in mussel richness amplify pathogens in remaining species. Pathogen amplification triggers further local losses in both mussel abundance and richness, explaining the observed so-called “enigmatic” declines in freshwater mussels.

Vulnerable communities could become trapped in cycles of pathogen amplification and host decline. We highlight knowledge gaps and provide key steps to assess the likelihood of this occurring; these key steps are applicable to any host group.

Policy implications. Our argument constitutes a testable hypothesis that may explain richness or abundance declines in previously intact communities. We provide further impetus for the consideration and preservation of diversity at a local scale, and show that effective conservation requires integration of both host and parasite ecology.

README: Data from: Enigmatic freshwater mussel declines could be explained by the biodiversity-disease relationship

Background:

This dataset is based on a literature review of host-parasite interactions in the freshwater mussel families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae, originally carried out according to Brian & Aldridge (2019, Biological Conservation 237, 155-165) and refined and described in detail in Brian & Aldridge (2022, Conservation Biology 36, e13979). It consists of a column of mussel host species, and all parasites previously recorded as being associated with that host species. Parasite taxa are limited to the four main groups of freshwater mussel parasites (digenean trematodes, aspidogastrean trematodes, mites, ciliates).

The current submission is limited to the data required to replicate results in the present study (Journal of Applied Ecology, 2023); other data files are available in Brian & Aldridge (2019, 2022).

Data description and file structure:

The data consists of two files:

supplementary_data_1.csv

Column 1 (Host) contains freshwater mussel species.
Column 2 (Parasite) contains a list of every parasite that have been recorded as being associated with that mussel species. Therefore, if a mussel species has multiple parasites recorded, the mussel species will occur multiple times in Column 1; similarly, if a parasite is recorded from multiple mussel species then the parasite will occur multiple times in Column 2.

supplementary_code_1.R

Describes how to use the file supplementary_data_1.csv to produce Fig. 1a in the main manuscript.

Sharing and access information:

The dataset is also publicly available attached as supplementary information to the following article:

Brian, J. I., & Aldridge, D. C. (2022). Mussel parasite richness and risk of extinction. Conservation Biology, 36(6), e13979. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13979

Comprehensive data from the original literature review (Brian & Aldridge 2019) is also publicly available as Tables A1.2 and A1.3 in the thesis of Joshua Brian:

Brian, J. (2022). Parasites in freshwater mussels: community ecology and conservation (Doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge). https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/1ef04421-306d-4b41-b9a4-b51de14cd98f