Karel Douda

Karel Douda
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague | CULS · Department of Zoology and Fisheries

PhD

About

102
Publications
43,159
Reads
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2,599
Citations
Additional affiliations
May 2014 - July 2014
Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Position
  • Visiting Researcher
April 2014 - April 2014
Missouri State University
Position
  • Visiting Researcher
January 2013 - present
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Position
  • PostDoc Position

Publications

Publications (102)
Article
Full-text available
Molluscs represent the second most diverse phylum on Earth and are among the most prevalent in freshwater ecosystems, exhibiting both high species richness and abundance/biomass. In addition, molluscs are one of the taxonomic groups with the highest number of non-native species in freshwater ecosystems. Many of these have significant ecological and...
Article
Full-text available
The coevolutionary dynamic of host–parasite associations varies from strictly local adaptations to diffuse guild coevolution. How innate and acquired immune responses modulate host resistance to parasitism and how host specificity and geographic scaling affect the efficacy of host response have consequences for range dynamics and biological invasio...
Article
Full-text available
Parasites can change the behaviour of their hosts, but little attention has been given to the relationship between parasite effects on host behaviour and colouration. The correlation between disrupted melanin production and alterations in various physiological and behavioural traits, e.g., aggression, shoaling behaviour, stress responsiveness and s...
Article
This study examined the impact of sertraline, an antidepressant common in treated wastewater, on the hostparasite dynamics between parasitic freshwater mussel (Unio tumidus, Unionidae) larvae (glochidia) and their host fish (Squalius cephalus, Cyprinidae). Employing a full-factorial design, both fish and glochidia were subjected to sertraline at th...
Article
Full-text available
The global decline of freshwater mussels and their crucial ecological services highlight the need to understand their phylogeny, phylogeography and patterns of genetic diversity to guide conservation efforts. Such knowledge is urgently needed for Unio crassus, a highly imperilled species originally widespread throughout Europe and southwest Asia. R...
Article
Full-text available
In this review, we synthesize the current knowledge of the biology, ecology, and impact of Sinanodonta freshwater mussels (Bivalvia, Unionidae), native to East Asia, that have successfully invaded Europe, Central America, North Africa, and several Asian regions. The main introduction pathways of Sinanodonta were reconstructed based on DNA sequence...
Article
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Acute stress response in the European bitterling, Rhodeus amarus, to glochidia parasitism by the invasive unionid mussel, Sinanodonta woodiana, was quantified by analysing cortisol plasma levels using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometer. We tested a novel method which required as little as 4 µL of plasma by increasing the volume usin...
Article
Full-text available
We identified 14 emerging and poorly understood threats and opportunities for addressing the global conservation of freshwater mussels over the next decade. A panel of 17 researchers and stakeholders from six continents submitted a total of 56 topics that were ranked and prioritized using a consensus-building Delphi technique. Our 14 priority topic...
Article
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The excessive worldwide production of plastic materials results in omnipresent microplastic pollution. Scientific studies dealing with the impacts of microplastics on aquatic ecosystems focus mainly on the marine environment, documenting the effect on the functional traits of various organisms. Polystyrene, one of the most commonly used plastics, h...
Article
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Europe has a long history of human pressure on freshwater ecosystems. As pressure continues to grow and new threats emerge, there is an urgent need for conservation of freshwater biodiversity and its ecosystem services. However, whilst some taxonomic groups, mainly vertebrates, have received a disproportionate amount of attention and funds, other g...
Article
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The armed conflict in Ukraine is the first in Europe after decades of peace and is currently taking thousands of human lives while reshaping global geopolitical dynamics. On top of its humanitarian and economic consequences, we cannot ignore the widespread environmental impacts of an armed conflict at this scale.
Article
Population declines in freshwater mussels (Unionida) resulting from failed recruitment, together with episodic water pollution potentially leading to juvenile mussel mortality, are often suspected (but rarely well documented), even in the most strictly protected aquatic areas. The aim of this study was to test a robust design for an in situ investi...
Article
Full-text available
Identification of ecosystem services, i.e. the contributions that ecosystems make to human well-being, has proven instrumental in galvanising public and political support for safeguarding biodiversity and its benefits to people. Here we synthe-sise the global evidence on ecosystem services provided and disrupted by freshwater bivalves, a heterogeno...
Article
Bivalve filtering behavior has been extensively used as a sensitive in vivo indicator of water environment changes. However, greater use of this technique is hindered by the usually complex, invasive, and laborious technical approaches (glued-on sensors) needed to obtain high-resolution data on the movement of bivalve shells. Here, we introduce and...
Article
Full-text available
Polymorphism of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), DAB1 gene was characterized for the first time in the European bitterling ( Rhodeus amarus ), a freshwater fish employed in studies of host-parasite coevolution and mate choice, taking advantage of newly designed primers coupled with high-throughput amplicon sequencing. Across 221 genotype...
Article
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Bivalve shells exhibit extreme mechanical resistance despite using a minimal amount of material. The shells thus represent an inspiration and a source of information for environmental, geological, and engineering sciences. In this study, two species of freshwater shells from the Unionidae family, collected in the Czech Luznice River, were investiga...
Article
Full-text available
Traces of psychoactive substances have been found in freshwaters globally. Fish are chronically exposed to pollution at low concentrations. The changes of aggressive behaviour of chub (Squalius cephalus) were determined under the exposure to four psychoactive compounds (sertraline, citalopram, tramadol, methamphetamine) at environmentally relevant...
Presentation
Since 1980, due to an alarming decline of FPM population, missing reproduction and the deteriorating quality of entire unique oligotrophic river catchments, the activities to protect them are ongoing. Gradually, declarations of a first action plan for the FPM and its habitats and declaration of protected areas in most of FPM catchments with a detai...
Poster
Full-text available
Since 1980, due to an alarming decline of FPM population, missing reproduction and the deteriorating quality of entire unique oligotrophic river catchments, the activities to protect them are ongoing. Gradually, declarations of a first action plan for the FPM and its habitats and declaration of protected areas in most of FPM catchments with a detai...
Article
Full-text available
Invasive bivalves continue to spread and negatively impact freshwater ecosystems worldwide. As different metrics for body size and biomass are frequently used within the literature to standardise bivalve‐related ecological impacts (e.g. respiration and filtration rates), the lack of broadly applicable conversion equations currently hinders reliable...
Article
Illicit drug abuse presents pervasive adverse consequences for human societies around the world. Illicit drug consumption also plays an unexpected role in contamination of aquatic ecosystems that receive wastewater discharges. Here, we show that methamphetamine, considered as one of the most important global health threats, causes addiction and beh...
Article
Full-text available
Tramadol is a widely used analgesic with additional antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. This compound has been reported in continental waters reaching concentrations of µg/L as a consequence of its inefficient removal in sewage treatment plants and increasing use over time. In this study, European chubs (Squalius cephalus) were exposed to 1 µg/L...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Biological invasions are a major threat to global biodiversity and can have substantial socioeconomic costs. Although invasive non–native species have been studied extensively, their monitoring and management are often inadequate (Pergl et al. 2020). Moreover, the great harm invasive non–native species cause tends to be underestimated...
Article
Anthropogenic freshwater habitats may provide undervalued prospects for long‐term conservation as part of species conservation planning. This fundamental, but overlooked, issue requires attention considering the pace that humans have been altering natural freshwater ecosystems and the accelerated levels of biodiversity decline in recent decades. We...
Article
Captive breeding is an effective conservation strategy, but it has risks, especially when a life history stage of an organism is bypassed. Freshwater mussels (Unionida) are critically imperiled, and their larvae are parasites on fishes. Traditional mussel captive breeding involves artificially infesting fishes with larvae (in vivo), but increasingl...
Chapter
Although biodiversity is considered a value to be protected to avoid the degradation of ecosystem functions, conservation practices ignore the role of many species. Species are not protected according to their degree of risk, but according to their degree of attractiveness. The so-called iconic species are used as flag species to convince the publi...
Article
Full-text available
The ongoing digital revolution in the age of big data is opening new research opportunities. Culturomics and iEcology, two emerging research areas based on the analysis of online data resources, can provide novel scientific insights and inform conservation and management efforts. To date, culturomics and iEcology have been applied primarily in the...
Article
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A simple and low-cost method of monitoring and collecting particulate matter detaching from (or interacting with) aquatic animals is described using a novel device based on an airlift pump principle applied to floating cages. The efficiency of the technique in particle collection is demonstrated using polyethylene microspheres interacting with a cy...
Article
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Despite the large number of studies devoted to organic matter dynamics in fluvial ecosystems, the detrital pathways of spring headwater systems remain neglected. In particular, spring wetlands (helocrenes or seepages) might have considerable influence on downstream headwater stream systems due to the alteration of the nutrient and organic matter co...
Article
In vitro culture has great potential for the propagation of freshwater mussels in both commercial and conservation aquaculture. The use of in vitro techniques precludes the need for host fish, thus decreasing costs and increasing efficiency. However, protocols are still lacking for many species that grow substantially during the parasitic stage. In...
Article
Full-text available
Parasitic infections elicit host defences that pose energetic trade-offs with other fitness-related traits. Bitterling fishes and unionid mussels are involved in a two-way parasitic interaction. Bitterling exploit mussels by ovipositing into their gills. In turn, mussel larvae (glochidia) develop on the epidermis and gills of fish. Hosts have evolv...
Article
The in vitro cultivation of parasitic larvae (glochidia) is becoming an important constituent of culture methods of freshwater mussels (order Unionida) worldwide. Despite rapid methodological progress, published methods for the vast majority of freshwater mussel species do not exist. In the present study, we tested the performance of current approa...
Article
Full-text available
Glycogen is a primary metabolic reserve in bivalves and can be suitable for the evaluation of bivalve condition and health status, but the use of glycogen as a diagnostic tool in aquaculture and biomonitoring is still relatively rare. A tissue biopsy combined with a simplified phenol–sulfuric acid method was used in this study to evaluate the inter...
Article
Freshwater mussels are declining globally, and effective conservation requires prioritizing research and actions to identify and mitigate threats impacting mussel species. Conservation priorities vary widely, ranging from preventing imminent extinction to maintaining abundant populations. Here, we develop a portfolio of priority research topics for...
Article
Bitterling fishes and unionid mussels are involved in a two-sided co-evolutionary association. On the one side, bitterling exploit unionids by ovipositing in their gills. On the other side, unionids develop via a larval stage (glo-chidium) that attaches to fish gills. Both interactions are parasitic and expected to have negative consequences for th...
Article
Full-text available
Parasites alter their host behaviour and vice versa as a result of mutual adaptations in the evolutionary arms race. One of these adaptations involves changes in host thermoregulation, which has the potential to harm the parasite and thereby act as a defence mechanism. We used a model of the brown trout (Salmo trutta) experimentally parasitised wit...
Article
Full-text available
Knowledge of habitat suitability for freshwater mussels is an important step in the conservation of this endangered species group. We describe a protocol for performing in situ juvenile exposure tests within oligotrophic river catchments over one-month and three-month periods. Two methods (in both modifications) are presented to evaluate the juveni...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding the invasive potential of species outside their native range is one of the most pressing questions in applied evolutionary and ecological research. Admixture of genotypes of invasive species from multiple sources has been implicated in successful invasions, by generating novel genetic combinations that facilitate rapid adaptation to n...
Conference Paper
Aquatic areas within nature reserves can suffer from certain anthropogenic pressures of its visitors. The littoral zone within small rivers and lentic freshwater systems is particularly threatened by water sports, such as swimming and canoeing. The core zone of the Central European National Park is an example of a popular location for visitors and...
Article
Full-text available
The Chinese pond mussel (Sinanodonta woodiana Lea, 1834) is a benthic filter-feeder that prefers soft-bottomed freshwater habitats and has successfully spread into both tropical and temperate water bodies outside its natural Southeast Asian range. Due to its preference for nutrient-rich waters with high levels of suspended food particles, the capac...
Article
Full-text available
An increasing number of studies demonstrate the critical role of the host–parasite relationship for the persistence and distribution of freshwater mussels. Laboratory experiments are a powerful tool for quantifying the physiological compatibility between parasitic mussel larvae and fish hosts and are clearly applicable to species conservation. Rece...
Article
Full-text available
The early post-parasitic phase is considered to be the most vulnerable life-stage of the endangered freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera), yet little is known about the spatial variability in juvenile performance at a river scale. The main aim of this study was to determine within-river variation in habitat suitability for juvenile...
Article
Co-extinctions are increasingly recognized as one of the major processes leading to the global biodiversity crisis, but there is still limited scientific evidence on the magnitude of potential impacts and causal mechanisms responsible for the decline of affiliate (dependent) species. Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia, Unionida), one of the most threaten...
Data
New video recordings of Unio crassus spurting behaviour
Article
Full-text available
1. The survival of affiliate (dependent) species in a changing environment is determined by the interactions between the affiliate species and their available hosts. However, the patterns of spatial and temporal changes in host compatibility are often unknown despite host shifts having direct impact on the persistence of local populations. Bivalves...
Article
Full-text available
A contemporary outcome of dynamic host–parasite coevolution can be driven by the adaptation of a parasite to exploit its hosts at the population and species levels (parasite specialisation) or by local host adaptations leading to greater host resistance to sympatric parasite populations (host resistance). We tested the predominance of these two sce...
Article
Full-text available
Direct and potentially damaging effects of invasive alien species can remain unnoticed or insufficiently quantified, resulting in a lack of stakeholder awareness. We report for the first time that parasitic larvae (glochidia) of the invasive freshwater mussel Sinanodonta (Anodonta) woodiana (Unionidae, Bivalvia) cause an unexpected reduction in the...
Article
Full-text available
Mining activities are responsible for high concentrations of metals in river networks in many parts of the world. Mining activities and the resulting high loads of heavy metals interact with intensive acid rain, and often have great consequences for biodiversity. However, considering the frequently episodic nature of these heavy acid rains, there i...
Article
Full-text available
1. The effects of invasive alien species (IAS) on host-affiliate relationships are often subtle and remain unnoticed or insufficiently quantified. The global decline of freshwater unionid mussel species has been attributed to many causes, but little is known about the interactions of IAS, with their complex life cycle, which includes an obligatory...
Article
Full-text available
Freshwater mussels of the Order Unionida provide important ecosystem functions and services, yet many of their populations are in decline. We comprehensively review the status of the 16 currently recognized species in Europe, collating for the first time their life-history traits, distribution, conservation status, habitat preferences, and main thr...
Article
Parasitization by the larvae (glochidia) of freshwater mussels can cause harm to a fish's gills, resulting in less effective respiration and/or reduced activity by the host fish. The impact of glochidia infections on the host's physiology remains poorly understood, and no information is available concerning energy consumption in parasitized fish. H...