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Book Statewide Assessment of Freshwater Mussels  Bivalvia  Unionidae  in Iowa Streams

Download or read book Statewide Assessment of Freshwater Mussels Bivalvia Unionidae in Iowa Streams written by Kelly Elizabeth Arbuckle and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study examined freshwater mussel communities, population densities and recent impacts in Iowa, USA. Data collected from streams previously surveyed (1984-85) and from field surveys in this study (1998-99) were used to examine presence, absence, abundance and recent changes in presence/absence of mussel species at different spatial scales. Results indicate an association between mussel impacts and agricultural land use in separate analyses examining habitat characteristics at different spatial scales. Analysis of mussel species richness at 118 sites showed sharp declines in species richness over the past decade. Species richness declined most dramatically at sites having 50% riparian woodland along the stream length surveyed. At the watershed scale, species richness declined in watersheds where agricultural land use accounted for 25% of the total land area. Over 38 watersheds, we found that watershed mean mussel density and species richness were best correlated with average watershed slope (topographic relief) and presence of alluvial deposits. An analysis of the influence of riparian and instream characteristics on mussel species richness and population density at 200 sites surveyed in 1998-99 showed that stream shading (an effect of riparian woodland) had a significant positive effect on mussel density and mussel species richness. Mussel species richness was negatively correlated with agricultural nutrients, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). The influence of landscape features on mussel communities is clear in each analysis: degradation of lands adjacent to freshwater ecosystems adversely impacts mussel habitat and the associated mussel communities. These results have important implications in the context of restoration and conservation efforts.

Book The Emerald Horizon

    Book Details:
  • Author : Cornelia F. Mutel
  • Publisher : University of Iowa Press
  • Release : 2008-03
  • ISBN : 1587297477
  • Pages : 329 pages

Download or read book The Emerald Horizon written by Cornelia F. Mutel and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2008-03 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Emerald Horizon, Cornelia Mutel combines lyrical writing with meticulous scientific research to portray the environmental past, present, and future of Iowa. In doing so, she ties all of Iowa's natural features into one comprehensive whole. Since so much of the tallgrass state has been transformed into an agricultural landscape, Mutel focuses on understanding today’s natural environment by understanding yesterday’s changes. After summarizing the geological, archaeological, and ecological features that shaped Iowa’s modern landscape, she recreates the once-wild native communities that existed prior to Euroamerican settlement. Next she examines the dramatic changes that overtook native plant and animal communities as Iowa’s prairies, woodlands, and wetlands were transformed. Finally she presents realistic techniques for restoring native species and ecological processes as well as a broad variety of ways in which Iowans can reconnect with the natural world. Throughout, in addition to the many illustrations commissioned for this book, she offers careful scientific exposition, a strong sense of respect for the land, and encouragement to protect the future by learning from the past. The “emerald prairie” that “gleamed and shone to the horizon’s edge,” as botanist Thomas Macbride described it in 1895, has vanished. Cornelia Mutel’s passionate dedication to restoring this damaged landscape—and by extension the transformed landscape of the entire Corn Belt—invigorates her blend of natural history and human history. Believing that citizens who are knowledgeable about native species, communities, and ecological processes will better care for them, she gives us hope—and sound suggestions—for the future.

Book Assessment of a Freshwater Mussel  mollusca  Bivalvia  Community in the Licking River  at Butler  Pendleton County  Kentucky

Download or read book Assessment of a Freshwater Mussel mollusca Bivalvia Community in the Licking River at Butler Pendleton County Kentucky written by Bryce Edward Daniels and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study was undertaken to assess the current condition of the freshwater mussel (also called unionid) (Bivalvia: Unionidae) community in the Licking River at the State Route 177 bridge crossing in Butler, Pendleton County, Kentucky. A recent study indicated a drastic decline in the reproduction occurring in this historically diverse assemblage, evident through findings of few glochidia in stream drift and the absence of glochidial encystment on any of the fishes collected. An intensive community analysis provided information on the current size demography of the resident populations, and monitored the presence of species historically known from this site. It also provided evidence of juvenile recruitment and reproduction, through presence/absence of juveniles at the site and glochidia (mussel larvae) in drift net samples or encysted upon fishes. Results from this survey would be useful for future monitoring of this community, and would provide important information that can be used in comparison with other mussel assemblages for which various have been quantified. Land use practices that had been or are currently being employed upstream of the proposed study site were considered to better understand the point and nonpoint source pollution factors that might be influencing community changes. It was hypothesized that upstream land use practices were contributing to a previously documented decline of reproduction at this locality. Qualitative and quantitative searches yielded 27 extant unionid species within the area, and resulted in the discovery of juveniles of eight species, including two juveniles of the state and federally endangered fanshell, Cyprogenia stegaria. Quantitative sampling, consisting of substrate excavation of randomly selected 0.25 m2 plots yielded 130 individual unionids, representing 17 species, at a total density of approximately 4.3 unionids / m2. Calculations showed the most abundant species, the spike, Elliptio dilatata, to have had the highest importance value in the quantitavely sampled areas. Analysis of drift net samples yielded 159 unionid glochidia and 434 juvenile Corbicula fluminea, the exotic Asian clam, out of approximately 730 m3 of stream drift. Examination of 545 fishes collected from the site yielded 241 glochidia encysted on either gills or fins of 47 individual fish hosts, for an average of 5.13 glochidia per infected fish. Eight species of fish were represented by hosts bearing encysted glochidia. These eight species comprised 71.74% of all fishes collected. The emerald shiner, Notropis atherinoides, was the most abundant fish from the three collections, bore the most glochidia, and had the highest prevalence of encystment. Twenty-seven emerald shiners were encysted with 195 unionid larvae; one individual was found bearing 105 glochidia encysted upon its gills. The dominant human influence in the lower Licking River drainage is agriculture, which has lead to a decrease of riparian buffer along a large proportion of the banks within the watershed, and has also allowed livestock access to the streams. The decrease of a riparian buffer and cattle access allows for more direct introduction of chemicals (i.e., pesticides and fertilizers), as well as decreases bank stability, which, in turn, leads to excessive sediment introduction. Such anthropogenic factors and large numbers of C. fluminea, have likely impacted the resident mussel fauna. Although this mussel community remains diverse, the lack of juvenile representation for all but eight species indicated a breakdown in a very important stage in the life history for the rest of the community. Recent reproduction was evident through the presence of glochidia encysted on host fishes and being broadcast into the water column; however, accurate recruitment patterns for resident populations could not be obtained without identification of the glochidia. The only definitive sign of a particular species having recently recruited new members was through the presence of juveniles in the quantitative and/or qualitative samples. These analyses provided baseline population data for each species which can be used in future monitoring of this biologically and historically significant site. There is a great need for future monitoring of such communities, so dynamics of the community can be more definitively recorded, and fluctuations in population structures can be analyzed. Compilations of long-term monitoring efforts on such diverse mussel communities should allow more accurate speculation, in comparison to watersheds with similar land uses, on the effects of such anthropogenic factors as point and nonpoint source pollutants on unionids. Better understanding of the impacts of these factors to natural communities should lead to better management strategies to ameliorate these impacts, conserving existing communities.

Book Analysis of Freshwater Mussels  Unionidae   Big Sunflower River Maintenance Project

Download or read book Analysis of Freshwater Mussels Unionidae Big Sunflower River Maintenance Project written by Andrew C. Miller and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Master s Theses Directories

Download or read book Master s Theses Directories written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Education, arts and social sciences, natural and technical sciences in the United States and Canada".

Book Assessment of Freshwater Mussel Communities of Small Stream Mouths Along Lake Erie

Download or read book Assessment of Freshwater Mussel Communities of Small Stream Mouths Along Lake Erie written by Trevor J. Prescott and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Invasion of lakes and rivers by dreissenid mussels pushed out native species, particularly freshwater mussels in the Unionidae, across the northern hemisphere, and perhaps most infamously, within the Laurentian Great Lakes. However, several coastal areas along the shallowest of these lakes, Lake Erie, may be refugia for native species, but the conditions under which native species persist are unknown. I surveyed river mouths of small streams along the Lake Erie coastline and compared species abundance to land use assessed by remote sensing techniques and to standard measures of water chemistry. Sampling focused on stream zones influenced by lake-water levels for three streams each in the western and central basins of Lake Erie and in Sandusky Bay. Eight of the nine streams possessed mussels: Pyganodon grandis (7 streams), Toxolasma parvum (5 streams), Quadrula quadrula (5 streams), Lasmigona complanata (5 streams), Leptodea fragilis (4 streams), and Utterbackia imbecillus (2 streams), while Amblema plicata, Obliquaria reflexa and Uniomerus tetralasmus were found each in only one stream. Distinct bathymetric features did not affect diversity levels, although water chemistry may have reduced abundance in some streams and unionid abundance was positively correlated with turbidity. Regional land use altered species dominance, as streams within physiographic regions containing higher amounts of silt were dominated by Q. quadrula, while more mixed habitat was dominated by P. grandis. Because, river mouths are refugia for unionid mussels, these areas must return to or come under regulatory control to monitor habitat alteration, a process stopped in this region following the belief that dreissenid mussels had eradicated all species of interest.

Book Survey of the Freshwater Mussels  Bivalvia  Unionidae  of the Big Creek and Quantitative Evaluation of State Listed Mussel Species in Big and Graham Creeks

Download or read book Survey of the Freshwater Mussels Bivalvia Unionidae of the Big Creek and Quantitative Evaluation of State Listed Mussel Species in Big and Graham Creeks written by Jeff L. Harmon and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Growth and Longevity of Freshwater Mussels  Bivalvia  Unionidae  with Application to Their Commercial Fisheries

Download or read book Growth and Longevity of Freshwater Mussels Bivalvia Unionidae with Application to Their Commercial Fisheries written by James Lee Anthony and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 542 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freshwater unionid mussels are one of the most rapidly declining components of North American freshwater biodiversity. Although they are of ecological and economic significance, we are faced with a considerable deficit in our knowledge of unionid life history and ecology. In particular, growth rates and longevity have been approached using erroneous techniques. Consequently, much of conventional management for these declining species may be inadequate. This thesis explores a new method for estimating age in unionid mussels. Through applying an inversion of the von Bertalanffy growth equation to mark and recapture-inferred growth rates, true ages of unionid mussels were estimated. Apparently, mussels may reach ages much older than previously expected. With ages that may exceed a century in some populations, freshwater mussels may be among the oldest living creatures in the world. The extreme age and slow growth of these bivalves may be, in part, at the root of their failure to support sustainable fisheries. Although freshwater mussel populations in the United States have been intensively exploited for various economic interests for over 100 years, harvests have been volatile and many mussel populations presently seem commercially unviable. The extreme age, slow growth, and reproductive ecology of these mollusks are compatible with an Allee effect whereby exploitation may rapidly lead to decreased per capita reproduction and even extinction. These aspects of mussel life history and reproductive ecology parallel those of many classically overexploited species and the Allee effect may be more common than previously expected in exploited populations.

Book The Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

Download or read book The Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Community Structure of Freshwater Mussels  Bivalvia  Unionidae  in Coastal Plain Streams of the Southeastern United States

Download or read book Community Structure of Freshwater Mussels Bivalvia Unionidae in Coastal Plain Streams of the Southeastern United States written by Jayne Brim Box and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Assessing Freshwater Mussels  Bivalvia  Unionidae  in South Dakota and Identifying Drivers of Assemblage Variation

Download or read book Assessing Freshwater Mussels Bivalvia Unionidae in South Dakota and Identifying Drivers of Assemblage Variation written by Kaylee L. Faltys and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book The Freshwater Mussels  Bivalvia  Unionidae  of the Fox River Basin  Illinois and Wisconsin

Download or read book The Freshwater Mussels Bivalvia Unionidae of the Fox River Basin Illinois and Wisconsin written by Robert W. Schanzle and published by Legare Street Press. This book was released on 2022-10-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Book Historical and Current Examination of Freshwater Mussels  Bivalvia  Margaritiferidae  Unionidae  in the Duck River Basin Tennessee

Download or read book Historical and Current Examination of Freshwater Mussels Bivalvia Margaritiferidae Unionidae in the Duck River Basin Tennessee written by Steven A. Ahlstedt and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Field Guide to Freshwater Mussels of the Midwest

Download or read book Field Guide to Freshwater Mussels of the Midwest written by Kevin S. Cummings and published by ILlinois Natural History Survey. This book was released on 1992 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book The Freshwater Mussels of Tennessee

Download or read book The Freshwater Mussels of Tennessee written by Paul Woodburn Parmalee and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Freshwater Mussels of Tennessee . . . is indispensable to anyone, anywhere, working on this group. Parmalee and Bogan have written a work that sets the standard for future regional guides."--G. Thomas Watters, Ohio Biological Survey "The Freshwater Mussels of Tennessee documents a tremendously diverse and unique mussel fauna that is rapidly being destroyed by modern development. Parmalee and Bogan set a new standard for state mussel surveys in their authoritative, thorough, and and highly readable account. The book will be of interest to biologists and conservationists worldwide and will appeal to anyone who cares about the preservation of natural resources in the southeastern United States."--Robert E. Warren, Illinois State Museum With more than 150 species and subspecies recorded in the state, Tennessee has one of the most diverse freshwater mussel faunas in North America. Valuable as indicators of water quality, these mollusks have themselves become threatened as development encroaches on habitat--twenty-three are currently listed as endangered species and at least twelve have become extinct. This is the first book for Tennessee to deal with this biologically and commercially significant group of mollusks. Its authors have been studying and writing about the mussels of Tennessee for more than twenty years and have undertaken a systematic organization of a large and complex body of information to bring order to a difficult field. The book traces the long history of human exploitation of mussels, from aboriginal food gathering to the growth of the cultured pearl industry. It provides an interpretive context for its exhaustive species accounts with background material on biology, distribution, economic utilization, taxonomy, and conservation issues. The authors also review the life cycle of the mussel and describe its many remarkable traits, such as its shell formation and the strategies it employs during the larval stage in parasitizing fish. The species accounts comprise 128 members of Family Unionidae--from pigtoes and pocketbooks to lilliputs and spikes--plus four additional species. The authors cover classification and synonymy, range and distribution, life history and ecology, and survival status. Particular attention is paid to shell description and structure to assist the reader in identification. Each species account includes a distribution map and color photos of two specimens. The Freshwater Mussels of Tennessee is a major reference that encompasses historical and modern mussel collections and draws on conservation studies that span two centuries. It will stand as an authoritative guide to understanding Tennessee mollusks and as a benchmark in the study of these species worldwide. The Authors: Paul W. Parmalee is professor emeritus of zooarchaeology and director emeritus of the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Arthur E. Bogan is curator of aquatic invertebrates at the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh.