A Multi-spatial Analysis of Land Use Effects on Freshwater Mussels in the Upper Cuyahoga River and Tinkers Creek

A Multi-spatial Analysis of Land Use Effects on Freshwater Mussels in the Upper Cuyahoga River and Tinkers Creek
Author: Tamar Atwell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
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ISBN:
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Mussels are considered one indicator of good water quality in rivers, but over the past 20 years mussel populations have continued to decline, while water quality improves. According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), water quality in the Cuyahoga River is now within safe levels for all parameters. However, what are safe levels for humans may not be safe for mussels. An analysis of freshwater mussel populations in two similarly sized watersheds, the Upper Cuyahoga River and Tinkers Creek was conducted. Correlations of mussel abundance and diversity were assessed by multivariate GIS/remote sensing tools to contrast water flow rates, effects of riparian zone types, shifts in lands use, and soil types within and between these two watersheds. The Upper Cuyahoga River shows a continued decline in mussel populations from 2016 to present, and analysis shows there was no significant effect from land use. In Tinkers Creek mussel populations changed from mostly Pyganodon grandis, a slow water species, to a majority Fusconaia flava and Lasmigona costata, species associated with flowing streams. Both regions have putatively benefitted from water quality improvements and park land acquisition through collaborations among Summit, Geauga, and Portage counties. The declines in the Upper Cuyahoga could be due to the regulation of the water flow, and while Tinkers Creeks flow is unregulated, mussel populations changed from pond species to river species.

Effects of Land Use and Land Cover on Freshwater Mussel Populations in the Upper Neuse River Basin, NC: A GIS Approach

Effects of Land Use and Land Cover on Freshwater Mussel Populations in the Upper Neuse River Basin, NC: A GIS Approach
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Release: 2010
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Land use practices can adversely affect water quality and freshwater mussel populations. Water quality can become degraded by siltation from development, pesticides and nutrients from agricultural fields, heavy metals and other toxins from urban runoff. The relationship between land use/land cover and freshwater mussel populations was investigated in the upper Neuse River basin in North Carolina. Mussel surveys were conducted from April to August of 2001 in the Eno, Flat, Smith, New Light, and Little River watersheds. Surveys (n=44) were conducted along 300-m transects upstream and downstream of bridges to examine the effect of bridge crossing structures on mussel assemblages. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) hydrological modeling tools were used to delineate upstream catchments of each sample site and to determine drainage areas. GIS was used to quantify land use/land cover within multiple spatial areas: upstream catchment, upstream riparian buffers (100 m and 250 m widths), and local riparian buffers (100 m and 250 m widths) immediate to the sample sites. Other environmental variables included stream slope, road density, water chemistry, and habitat quality assessment scores. No significant differences (p.05) between mean mussel abundances due to location (upstream or downstream), distance from the bridge, or their interaction were observed in a split plot block design analysis. However, a slight decline in abundance was observed within the first 50 m downstream of the bridge. Future studies in additional subbasins of the Neuse and/or in other river basins could show a significant decline. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS) ordinations described some of the variation in the mussel community structure (67% and 46% total variation respectfully). Both of the ordinations yielded similar community structures and environmental gradients. Moderate associations (r.5) were observed between DCA and NMS axis 1 and seve.

Effects of Land Use and Land Cover on Freshwater Mussel Populations in the Upper Neuse River Basin, NC

Effects of Land Use and Land Cover on Freshwater Mussel Populations in the Upper Neuse River Basin, NC
Author: Elizabeth F. Andersen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 109
Release: 2002
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ISBN:
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Keywords: Neuse River basin, freshwater mussels, water quality, bioindicators, land use/land cover, unionids, Geographic Information Systems, GIS, landscape analysis.

Assessment of the Freshwater Mussel Community of the Upper Mahoning River Watershed and Factors Influencing Diversity and Abundance in Small Streams

Assessment of the Freshwater Mussel Community of the Upper Mahoning River Watershed and Factors Influencing Diversity and Abundance in Small Streams
Author: Matthew T. Begley
Publisher:
Total Pages: 86
Release: 2015
Genre: Biodiversity
ISBN:
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Abstract: Freshwater mussel communities have experienced drastic declines in diversity and abundance in many streams throughout North America. Among the reasons for these declines is the human-driven alteration of the landscape, as urban and agricultural use impart many known stressors to aquatic systems. Impairments include increased sedimentation, increased pollutants, increased flood frequency and intensity, and decreased diversity and abundance of many organisms, including fish, macroinvertebrates, and mussels. Attempts to explain the abundance and diversity of mussel communities using small-scale factors such as substrate type and flow velocity provided little to no predictive power. Instead, reach-scale variables, such as stream morphology and riparian vegetation, and catchment-scale variables, such as land use, performed better as predictors of mussel diversity and abundance. In this study, surveys of mussel communities were performed in Eagle Creek in 2013 and throughout the entire upper Mahoning River watershed in 2014. Stream morphology was assessed at the sites surveyed in 2014. No published surveys exist for the mussel community of the upper Mahoning River watershed, which is a headwater system in the upper reaches of the Ohio River watershed. The Eagle Creek watershed had the highest proportion of forested land in the upper Mahoning River watershed and supported the largest and most diverse mussel community, although evidence for recruitment was limited in this stream. Across the region, abundance and species richness were strongly correlated with drainage area. Abundance and species richness decreased with increased shear stress, electrical conductivity, and agricultural and urban land use. Conductivity was also correlated with agricultural land use, and no live mussels were found where conductivity exceeded 0.9mS. Overall, the upper Mahoning River watershed had a low diversity and abundance of freshwater mussels, likely due to the intensive anthropogenic land use. Even where conditions appeared better, historic land use may have obscured the relationship between in stream conditions and mussel abundance and diversity, as some populations may have experienced greater stressors in the past than today.

Final Report

Final Report
Author:
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Total Pages: 110
Release: 2005
Genre: Freshwater mussels
ISBN:
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The goal of this study was to assess the effects of road runoff on freshwater mussels in North Carolina streams. We conducted our studies at 20 road crossings in the upper Neuse River Basin above Falls Lake as the study area. Using GIS, we selected 9 agricultural sites and 10 forested sites based on EPA landuse data. A 20th site was selected because of its urban nature and ongoing construction at the site. We surveyed mussels in the 300-meter reaches upstream and downstream of each of these crossings. We used the analysis of hemolymph obtained from the common mussel species Elliptio complanata as a non-lethal health assessment technique for studying the health of individual mussels upstream and downstream of these road crossings. Hemolymph analysis was also used to compare agricultural and forested sites. This project was the first field test of this hemolymph technique, and the forested sites were used to develop reference ranges for the various parameters evaluated in E. complanata hemolymph. Other health assessments included glycogen analysis, evaluation of the percent of gravid mussels at a site, and presence of parasites. Contaminants were measured in mussel tissue, sediment, and in Passive Sampling Devices (PSDs) deployed at each site. There tended to be fewer mussels in the first 50 meters downstream of the road crossings; however, there were no differences when the entire 300-meter upstream and downstream reaches were considered. There was no difference in health parameters measured by hemolymph analysis between upstream and downstream mussels. Hemolymph glucose and calcium were significantly different between agricultural and forested sites. Hemolymph reference ranges are presented in this report. Contaminant analyses showed an increase in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and some metals downstream of all road crossings at some sites. This appeared to be directly related to the number of vehicles crossing the bridges. There was, however, no direct correlation between increasing contaminant loads and decreasing mussel abundance. There were no noteworthy differences in contaminant loads between land use types. Passive sampling devices proved to be excellent surrogates for the direct measurement of PAHs in mussel tissue.

Effects of Increased Commercial Navigation Traffic on Freshwater Mussels in the Upper Mississippi River: Ten-Year Evaluation

Effects of Increased Commercial Navigation Traffic on Freshwater Mussels in the Upper Mississippi River: Ten-Year Evaluation
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Total Pages: 66
Release: 2002
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ISBN:
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In the late 198Os the U.S. Army Engineer District, St. Louis, requested that the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, now part of the Engineer Research and Development Center, in Vicksburg, MS, conduct studies on the physical and biological effects of commercial navigation traffic at five historically prominent mussel beds in the upper Mississippi River (UMR). The purpose was to assess effects of increased navigation traffic caused by the newly completed Melvin Price Locks and Dam at Alton, IL. Studies were initiated in 1989 and conducted annually until 1994 when they were to be done every fifth year until 2040. This report describes results of studies conducted in 1999 at three of the mussel beds located in Pool 10 (River Mile (RM) 635), Pool 14 (RM 504.8), and Pool 24 (PM 299.6). In previous years, mussel beds at RM 450.4 (Pool 17) and RM 571.5 (Pool 12) were also studied. Because of recent concern over effects of zebra mussels (Dreissenapolymorpha) on freshwater mussels, data collected in 2000 and 2001 on this species have also been included. In 1999, 26 species of bivalves, including the Asian clam, Corbiculaflurninea. were collected at the three beds in the UMR using qualitative methods. Overall, the fauna was dominated by Amblemaplicata; this species comprised more than 60 and 40 percent of the fauna in Pools 10 and 14, respectively. Ellipsaria lineolata was the dominant freshwater mussel at the mussel bed in Pool 24. The endangered Lainpsilis higginsi was found in Pool 10 (1.72 percent of the assemblage) and Pool 14 (2.44 percent of the assemblage). It was not found in Pool 24, which is outside its range.