TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of remnant unionid assemblages in a selection of Great Lakes coastal wetlands
AU - Murry, Brent A
AU - Woolnough, Daelyn
AU - Sherman, Jessica J
AU - Zanatta, David
AU - Uzarski, Donald G
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the following individuals for assistance in data collecting for this study: Thomas Clement, Dave Coulter, Nathan Barton, Neil Schock, Matt Rowe, Erin Fitzpatrick, Dave Schuberg, Eric Calabro, Dave Dortman, Dave Branson, and Sasha Bozimowski. Appreciation goes to Matthew Cooper, Joshua Sherman, and Jerry Droll for contributing to the design of the water level gauges. We would also like to thank Jessica Lapp, Anett Trebitz, and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions for improving the manuscript. Funding for this study was provided by the Central Michigan University Graduate Student Research and Creative Endeavors Grant , the Daniel E. and Mildred G. Wujek Endowed Scholarship , and a grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality — Coastal Zone Management program .
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - Populations of native unionids have been in steady decline over the past century. The invasion of dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) in the mid-1980's impacted already imperiled unionid populations by greatly increasing their regional extinction rates. A selection of Great Lakes coastal wetlands around Michigan was surveyed to locate remnant populations of native unionids. Physical and chemical parameters were measured in coastal wetlands to evaluate the importance of these habitat parameters to remnant unionid assemblages. We assessed fouling rates by dreissenids on unionids and used artificial substrates to estimate dreissenid colonization densities. Live unionids were found in coastal wetlands of the Les Cheneaux Islands, the Lake St. Clair delta, and North Maumee Bay with significantly higher unionid fouling in the Les Cheneaux Islands compared to the other two sampling areas (F2,76=4.97, p=0.0095). No live unionids were documented in Beaver Island, Garden Island, Grand Traverse Bay, or Saginaw Bay wetlands. Dreissena colonization densities on artificial substrates averaged 19,213m-2 at one site in North Maumee Bay, and 10,425m-2 in Saginaw Bay, but no colonization occurred in the wetlands of Beaver Island, Garden Island, the Les Cheneaux Islands, or Grand Traverse Bay while Dreissena presence in the open water of these regions was evident. Dreissena colonization densities on artificial substrates increased with measures of anthropogenic disturbance and decreased with higher water level fluctuations and aerial exposure. Specific conductance, turbidity, and magnitude of water level fluctuations were important predictors of Dreissena colonization on artificial substrates.
AB - Populations of native unionids have been in steady decline over the past century. The invasion of dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) in the mid-1980's impacted already imperiled unionid populations by greatly increasing their regional extinction rates. A selection of Great Lakes coastal wetlands around Michigan was surveyed to locate remnant populations of native unionids. Physical and chemical parameters were measured in coastal wetlands to evaluate the importance of these habitat parameters to remnant unionid assemblages. We assessed fouling rates by dreissenids on unionids and used artificial substrates to estimate dreissenid colonization densities. Live unionids were found in coastal wetlands of the Les Cheneaux Islands, the Lake St. Clair delta, and North Maumee Bay with significantly higher unionid fouling in the Les Cheneaux Islands compared to the other two sampling areas (F2,76=4.97, p=0.0095). No live unionids were documented in Beaver Island, Garden Island, Grand Traverse Bay, or Saginaw Bay wetlands. Dreissena colonization densities on artificial substrates averaged 19,213m-2 at one site in North Maumee Bay, and 10,425m-2 in Saginaw Bay, but no colonization occurred in the wetlands of Beaver Island, Garden Island, the Les Cheneaux Islands, or Grand Traverse Bay while Dreissena presence in the open water of these regions was evident. Dreissena colonization densities on artificial substrates increased with measures of anthropogenic disturbance and decreased with higher water level fluctuations and aerial exposure. Specific conductance, turbidity, and magnitude of water level fluctuations were important predictors of Dreissena colonization on artificial substrates.
KW - Coastal wetland
KW - Dreissenid
KW - Remnant assemblages
KW - Unionid
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878106825&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jglr.2013.03.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jglr.2013.03.001
M3 - Article
VL - 39
SP - 201
EP - 210
JO - Journal of Great Lakes Research
JF - Journal of Great Lakes Research
SN - 0380-1330
IS - 1
ER -