°C. This allows C. fluminea to colonize novel habitats at an advanced rate. Habitat association Studies on which abiotic habitat characteristics are most strongly associated with Asian clam population abundance have produced varying results. Brazilian habitats have been found to have support the largest abundances of invasive Corbicula spp. in areas with coarser dominant sediment fractions, while negatively correlated with increasing levels of organic matter. Others studies have shown abiotic habitat characteristics such as water redox potential, inorganic nutrient content, hardness, and organic matter content in tandem with the amount of very coarse sand combine to explain 59.3% of Corbicula population habitat association via statistical tests. Asian clam invasions seem to be limited by elevation (88% of the invaded range is below 500m elevation), latitude (90% lies between latitudes 30°and 55°) as well as the minimum winter temperature (-10 °C) of the ecosystem. Impacts on invaded ecosystems Corbicula fluminea reworks the sediments it resides on through the process of bioturbation. Asian clams are considered biodiffusors similar to marine clam species due to their observed bioturbation activity which may negatively affect biogeochemical affect other members of the benthic community in invaded areas. Corbicula has also been shown to profoundly influence community dynamics within the macrobenthos of invaded systems. Corbicula has been shown to remove as much as 70% of phytoplankton biomass in reaches of invaded rivers with a robust clam population. The clam has also been reported as causing a decline of dissolved oxygen in the water of the same river system with wide ranging second-order effects. The primary economic and social impact of the invasion of C. fluminea has been billions of dollars in costs associated with clogged plumbing and, heat exchangers, or other human-created infrastructure. Ecologically, C. fluminea contributes to declines and replacement of highly vulnerable, already threatened native clams. Global invasion pattern The first recorded instance of Corbicula presence in the scientific literature in the Western Hemisphere was of its introduction into British Columbia circa 1924, followed by a spread throughout the Pacific Northwest and across the American south through South America. Invasions in Europe and Central America were more recent, first appearing in Caribbean countries in 1998. Mitigation They have been blamed for algal blooms and concerns exist they will outcompete and displace native species such as the montane pea clam (Pisidium spp.) and the ramshorn snail (Planorbidae).Efforts are underway at Lake Tahoe to smother the clams