Heather S. Galbraith, Julie L. Devers, Carrie J. Blakeslee, Jeffrey C. Cole, Barbara St. John White, Steve Minkkinen, William A. Lellis
Abstract
Co-extirpation among host-affiliate species is thought to be a leading cause of biodiversity loss worldwide. Freshwater mussels (Unionida) are at risk globally and face many threats to survival, including limited access to viable host fish required to complete their life history. We examine the relationship between the common eastern elliptio mussel (Elliptio complanata) and its migratory host fish the American eel (Anguilla rostrata), whose distribution in the Chesapeake Bay watershed is limited, in part, by dams. We examined population demographics of E. complanata across locations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, primarily in the Susquehanna River in the absence of American eels, and conducted experimental restocking of eels to assess potential impacts on mussel recruitment. Compared to surveys completed ~20 years prior, E. complanata could be experiencing declines at several historically abundant sites. These sites also had extremely limited evidence of recruitment. Restoration of host fish improved recruitment, but results were not equivalent between stocking sites indicating that host reintroduction alone may not be fully effective in reestablishing mussel populations. One site where eels were introduced (Pine Creek, Tioga County, PA) experienced an increase from 0 juveniles found during quantitative surveys prior to eel stocking to 151 (21% of individuals collected during quantitative surveys) E. complanata juveniles found four years after stocking. A second site (Buffalo Creek, Union County, PA) experienced a more moderate increase from 2 to 7 juveniles found during 2010 and 2014 quantitative surveys, respectively. Continued examination of other potential interacting factors affecting recruitment, including water quality or habitat conditions, are necessary to target favorable sites for successful restoration. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 October 2018.
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#16,106,715
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#32
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