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M.S.Thesis_Prescott,Trevor.pdf (990.51 KB)

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

Prescott, Trevor Jake-David
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1395489064

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Science in Biology, Cleveland State University, College of Sciences and Health Professions.
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.
Robert Krebs, PhD (Advisor)
Wentworth Clapham, PhD (Committee Member)
Paul Doerder, PhD (Committee Member)
Fasong Yuan, PhD (Committee Member)
62 p.
Freshwater Ecology; Geographic Information Science; Remote Sensing
mussel; unionid; gis; remote sensing

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Prescott, T. J.-D. (2014). Assessment of Freshwater Mussel Communities of Small Stream Mouths Along Lake Erie [Master's thesis, Cleveland State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1395489064

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Prescott, Trevor. Assessment of Freshwater Mussel Communities of Small Stream Mouths Along Lake Erie. 2014. Cleveland State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1395489064.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Prescott, Trevor. "Assessment of Freshwater Mussel Communities of Small Stream Mouths Along Lake Erie." Master's thesis, Cleveland State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1395489064

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

csu1395489064
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This open access ETD is published by Cleveland State University and OhioLINK.