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Scale-Dependent Environmental Influences on Linked Mussel-Fish Assemblages in Big Darby Creek, OH

Bey, Clarissa Rachel
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1376918254

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Environment and Natural Resources.
Freshwater mussels are considered to be the most imperiled group of animals in North America, yet the environmental factors that influence mussel assemblage structure are not fully resolved. The life cycle of mussels suggests that dispersal of mussels is linked to fish movement whereas growth and reproduction might be expected to be controlled by broad-scale environmental processes. A more thorough understanding of the responses of linked lotic mussel-fish assemblages to scale-dependent environmental characteristics is expected to improve both current ecological understanding as well as inform conservation and management. My research investigated the relationships between (1) stream hydrogeomorphology and mussel and darter assemblages and (2) the relative influences of local- and catchment (i.e., landscape) -scale environmental factors on mussel assemblages in Big Darby Creek, OH. In 2011 and 2012, I surveyed mussel and fish assemblages and conducted geomorphic surveys at twenty study reaches distributed in Big Darby Creek. I also collected environmental data at local- (i.e., riparian land cover, stream hydrogeomorphic characteristics) and catchment- (i.e., drainage area; catchment land cover; modeled overland flow, sediment, and nutrient dynamics) scales. For the first objective, principal component analyses and stepwise multiple linear regressions were used to explore potential relationships between hydrogeomorphic variables and mussel and fish descriptors of the following assemblages: fish, darter, mussel, and mussels known to use darters as hosts. For the second objective, I used a partial constrained ordination approach to partition variation in the mussel assemblage dataset among fish, spatial, environmental, and shared (spatially-structured fish and environmental) factors. At a coarse geomorphic resolution, density of the overall fish assemblage as well as the darter component of the fish assemblage (p = 0.048, p = 0.024; respectively) was greater at geomorphically adjusting reaches, whereas fish species richness was 1.2 times greater at equilibrium reaches (p = 0.047). At a finer geomorphic resolution, eleven models emerged as significant. Across all models, hydrogeomorphic parameters explained from 20% (darter assemblage evenness) to 55% (density of mussels using darters as hosts) of the variation observed in mussel and fish assemblages. Drainage area was significant in almost every model. Other important variables included embeddedness, velocity, shear stress, roughness, channel dimensions, and sediment size. I found that collectively, environmental, spatial, and fish datasets explained 99.2% of the variation observed in mussel assemblage structure. The shared component was the dominant predictor variable, explaining 40.1% of mussel assemblage variation, whereas fish density only accounted for 1.5%. The pure environmental component accounted for 31.5% of the variation, split relatively equally between local- (26.3%) and catchment- (32.4%) scale influences. Overall, my results suggest that local-scale environmental characteristics can be valuable in predicting linked mussel-fish assemblage distribution and structure. Fine-resolution quantitative geomorphic variables provided substantial information for both assemblages. However, findings from my thesis also indicate that a singular focus on local-scale environmental variables may underestimate the importance of broad-scale processes, suggesting that conservation and management schemes including reintroduction efforts will benefit from approaches that combine reach- and catchment-level assessments, as well as the dynamics of cohabitating fish assemblages.
Mažeika Sullivan (Advisor)
George Watters (Committee Member)
Stephen Matthews (Committee Member)
154 p.
Ecology; Wildlife Conservation
Darters, channel equilibrium, hydrogeomorphology, freshwater mussel assemblages, riffle-pool interface, stream fish assemblages, pure environmental factors, shared environmental variables, Soil and Water Assessment Tool

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bey, C. R. (2013). Scale-Dependent Environmental Influences on Linked Mussel-Fish Assemblages in Big Darby Creek, OH [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1376918254

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bey, Clarissa. Scale-Dependent Environmental Influences on Linked Mussel-Fish Assemblages in Big Darby Creek, OH. 2013. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1376918254.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bey, Clarissa. "Scale-Dependent Environmental Influences on Linked Mussel-Fish Assemblages in Big Darby Creek, OH." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1376918254

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1376918254
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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.