Distribution and Abundance of Three Freshwater Mussel Species (B1valv1a: U ntontdae) Correlated with Physical Habitat Characteristics in an Iowa Reservoir

Authors

J. R. Straka, Iowa State University
J. A. Downing, Iowa State UniverstiyFollow

Document Type

Research

Keywords

Unionidae, Pyganodon, Potamilus, Lampsilis, habitat, reservoir, depth, fetch, bottom slope, substrate, spatial distribution, population density

Abstract

A rapid drawdown (weeks) of a reservoir allowed us to determine the combined influence of water depth, maximum effective fetch, bottom slope, and substrate characteristics on abundance of three species of freshwater mussels. The three principal mussel species were significantly (PPyganodon grandis(Say) was most abundant on deeper shelves (ca. 3 m depth, slope 1 km), and sediment organic matter content was moderate (Lampsilis siliquoidea(Barnes), however, was most abundant in shallow water (Potamilus alatus(Say) had a more cosmopolitan depth distribution, but was found only on bottoms with low slope (Pyganodon grandiswas found to be negatively affected by increasing substrate organic matter content. This result stands in contrast to other studies that have suggested that abundance of Pyganodon grandis was positively correlated with substrate organic matter content.

Publication Date

June 2000

Journal Title

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

107

Issue

2

First Page

25

Last Page

33

Copyright

© Copyright 2000 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Straka, J. R. and Downing, J. A. (2000) "Distribution and Abundance of Three Freshwater Mussel Species (B1valv1a: U ntontdae) Correlated with Physical Habitat Characteristics in an Iowa Reservoir," Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS, 107(2), 25-33.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/jias/vol107/iss2/3