From 2005 to 2011, the federally endangered freshwater mussel Epioblasma capsaeformis (oyster mussel) was reintroduced at three sites in the upper Clinch River, Virginia, using four release techniques. These release techniques were (1) translocation of adults (site 1, n = 1418), (2) release of laboratory-propagated sub-adults (site 1, n = 2851), (3) release of 8-week-old laboratory-propagated juveniles (site 2, n = 9501), and (4) release of artificially infested host fishes (site 3, n = 1116 host fishes). These restoration efforts provided a unique research opportunity to compare the effectiveness of techniques used to reestablish populations of extirpated and declining species. We evaluated the relative success of these four population restoration approaches via monitoring at each release site (2011-2012) using systematic 0.25-m 2 quadrat sampling to estimate abundance and post-release survival. Abundances of translocated adult and laboratory-propagated sub-adult E. capsaeformis at site 1 ranged 577-645 and 1678-1700 individuals, respectively, signifying successful settlement and high post-release survival. Two untagged individuals (29.1 and 27.3 mm) were observed, indicating that recruitment is occurring at site 1. No E. capsaeformis were found at sites where 8-week-old laboratory-propagated juveniles (site 2) and artificially infested host fishes (site 3) were released. Our results indicate that translocations of adults and releases of laboratory-propagated sub-adults were the most effective population restoration techniques for E. capsaeformis. We recommend that restoration efforts focus on the release of larger (>20 mm) individuals to accelerate augmenting and reintroducing populations and increase the probability for recovery of imperiled mussels.Key words: artificial infestation of host fishes, augmentation, endangered species, freshwater mussels, laboratory propagated, reintroduction, translocation Implications for Practice• Freshwater mussel reintroduction efforts should focus on translocating adults and releasing larger (>20 mm) laboratory-propagated individuals to maximize success of population restoration projects.• Releasing larger individuals presents the opportunity to tag and follow cohorts through time and increases the knowledge of species-specific demographics.• Biotic and abiotic factors may limit the survival of reintroduced individuals, and should be identified and controlled for before releasing individuals.• Post-release monitoring and documentation of successes and failures of restorations is vital to improving the efficacy of future projects.

The effects of temperature on growth and survival of laboratory‐propagated juvenile freshwater mussels of two federally endangered species, the Cumberlandian combshell Epioblasma brevidens and oyster mussel E. capsaeformis, and one nonlisted species, the wavy‐rayed lampmussel Lampsilis fasciola, were investigated to determine optimum rearing temperatures for these species in small water‐recirculating aquaculture systems. Juveniles 4–5 months old were held in downweller buckets at five temperatures. Growth and survival of juveniles were evaluated at 2‐week intervals for 10 sampling events. At the end of the 20‐week experiment, mean growth at 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28°C was, respectively, 0.75, 2.22, 3.27, 4.23, and 4.08 mm for Cumberlandian combshell; 1.35, 3.73, 3.81, 4.90, and 4.70 mm for oyster mussel; and 2.09, 3.96, 4.99, 5.13, and 4.87 mm for wavy‐rayed lampmussel juveniles. Generally, temperature was positively correlated with growth of juveniles. Final mean maximum growth occurred at 26°C for all three species, although no significant differences in growth were detected between 26°C and 28°C. The relationship between temperature and survival of juveniles was less clear. Final survival was 82.5, 89.0, 91.0, 89.5, and 93.5% for Cumberlandian combshell; 73.0, 83.5, 78.0, 78.0, and 68.1% for oyster mussel; and 75.0, 89.5, 87.0, 86.5, and 89.5% for wavy‐rayed lampmussel juveniles at the five temperature treatments, respectively. Based on the species used in this study, results indicate that 26°C is the optimum temperature to maximize growth of juvenile mussels in downweller bucket systems. The ability to grow endangered juveniles to larger sizes will improve survival in captivity and upon release into the wild and will reduce time spent in hatcheries. As a result, hatcheries can increase their overall production and enhance the likelihood of success of mussel population recovery efforts by federal and state agencies, and other partners.

To assess the importance of variation in observer effort between and within bird atlas projects and demonstrate the use of relatively simple conditional autoregressive (CAR) models for analyzing grid‐based atlas data with varying effort. Pennsylvania and West Virginia, United States of America. We used varying proportions of randomly selected training data to assess whether variations in observer effort can be accounted for using CAR models and whether such models would still be useful for atlases with incomplete data. We then evaluated whether the application of these models influenced our assessment of distribution change between two atlas projects separated by twenty years (Pennsylvania), and tested our modeling methodology on a state bird atlas with incomplete coverage (West Virginia). Conditional Autoregressive models which included observer effort and landscape covariates were able to make robust predictions of species distributions in cases of sparse data coverage. Further, we found that CAR models without landscape covariates performed favorably. These models also account for variation in observer effort between atlas projects and can have a profound effect on the overall assessment of distribution change. Accounting for variation in observer effort in atlas projects is critically important. CAR models provide a useful modeling framework for accounting for variation in observer effort in bird atlas data because they are relatively simple to apply, and quick to run.

Our study objective was to compare the relative effectiveness and efficiency of quadrat and capture-mark-recapture (CMR) sampling designs for monitoring mussels. We collected data on a recently reintroduced population of federally endangered Epioblasma capsaeformis and two nonlisted, naturally occurring species—Actinonaias pectorosa and Medionidus conradicus—in the Upper Clinch River, Virginia, over two years using systematic quadrat and CMR sampling. Both sampling approaches produced similar estimates of abundance; however, precision of estimates varied between approaches, years, and among species, and further, quadrat sampling efficiency of mussels detectable on the substrate surface varied among species. CMR modeling revealed that capture probabilities for all three study species varied by time and were positively associated with shell length, that E. capsaeformis detection was influenced by sex, and that year-to-year apparent survival was high (>96%) for reintroduced E. capsaeformis. We recommend that monitoring projects use systematic quadrat sampling when the objective is to estimate and detect trends in abundance for species of moderate to high densities (>0.2/m2), whereas a CMR component should be incorporated when objectives include assessing reintroduced populations, obtaining reliable estimates of survival and recruitment, or producing unbiased population estimates for species of low to moderate densities (≤0.2/m2).