Freshwater Mussel Assemblages in the Black River, Missouri and Arkansas

Abstract

Freshwater mussel assemblages show predictable variation according to large-scale biogeographic factors and stream-size gradients, but smaller-scale assemblage patterns are less well known. The goal of this study was to classify and delineate mussel assemblages of the Black River, Missouri and Arkansas, USA, along an upstream-downstream gradient and with regard to physiography and biogeographical regions. We analyzed mussel assemblages using nonmetric multidimensional scaling and indicator-species analysis. Our results yielded three assemblage groupings distributed along the upstream-downstream gradient and thereby considered aquatic ecological systems (100-1,000 km 2 ) in a hierarchical spatial classification scheme. These groupings also support previously proposed biogeographical differences for mussels and fishes between the Ozark Highlands and Mississippi Alluvial Plain physiographic regions. Each group was characterized by 2-13 indicator species. Our demonstration of small-scale patterns of mussel assemblage change will be useful for conservation planning and for a better understanding of mussel assemblage dynamics.

Distributional Patterns of Gastropoda Upstream and Downstream of Bujagali Hydropower Project along the Upper Victoria Nile

“…pH, DO, calcium and temperature (Bronmark, 1987;Zhou et al, 2008;Zeybek et al, 2012).. Gastropods, especially the prosobranchs were eurytopic to upstream and downstream habitats indicating that both water and substrate quality did not impede their survival in the study area. Factors such as temperature, turbidity, DO, pH, CO2 and water hardness influence toxicity of pollutants that affect snail populations (Christian et al, 2021;Abbot, 1950). In this study, DO, temperature, pH, water clarity and conductivity occurred within acceptable limits of WHO and NEMA (Wanda et.…”

“…Eight species occurred at the three sites except Anisus natalensis that was recorded only at Buyala-Kikubamutwe. Though the species is considered as one of least concern on the IUCN Red list Threatened species (Jørgensen 2008;Ghamizi et al, 2009), Christian et al (2021) postulated that species which occur exclusively in one locality could be considered as vulnerable. The home range of P. ovata in Africa spans from Egypt down to East Africa to northern Mozambique (Brown, 1994), however, in the current evaluation, this prosobranch was irregularly distributed across sites in the UVN.…”

Watershed selection to support freshwater mussel restoration: an open-loop decision guide

“…Mussels can occur in assemblages that are similar among rivers; a watershed may be a candidate for restoration if it has mussel species that are commonly found with the target species. Mussel assemblage composition may be related to shared host fish use (Haag and Warren 1998) or shared use of macrohabitat and biogeographical factors (Strayer 1993) including river size (Christian et al 2021). Regardless of the underlying mechanism that contributes to supporting similar mussel assemblages, presence of mussels that co-occur with the target species may indicate habitat suitability.…”