Relationships between streambed substrate characteristics and freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in coastal plain streams

Journal of the North American Benthological Society
By: , and 

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Abstract

Freshwater mussels and stream substrate were sampled at 30 locations in the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint (ACF) river basins. Although >2100 mussels that included 25 species were observed in our sample of 2661 quadrats, only 5 species were sufficiently abundant to provide reliable estimates of the relationship between mussel presence and substrate composition. Among these 5 species, only Villosa lienosa was associated with substrate composition. Villosa lienosa was most prevalent in well-sorted sediments that contained high proportions of fine particles, but its presence was unrelated to sediment porosity. Because many species of freshwater mussels in these Coastal Plain streams are dispersed and rare, future studies of mussel–habitat associations in the ACF basin should include novel sampling designs and methods that allow rare species to be encountered in greater numbers than those observed in our study.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Relationships between streambed substrate characteristics and freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in coastal plain streams
Series title Journal of the North American Benthological Society
DOI 10.2307/1468413
Volume 21
Issue 2
Year Published 2002
Language English
Publisher University of Chicago Press
Contributing office(s) Florida Integrated Science Center, Southeast Ecological Science Center
Description 8 p.
First page 253
Last page 260
Country United States
State Alabama, Florida, Georgia
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