Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program Long Term Resource Monitoring

Estimation of Vital Rates to Assess the Relative Health of Mussel Resources in the Upper Mississippi River System.  A completion report submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program from the U.S. Geological Survey

Zigler, Steve, Patty Ries, Mike Davis, Robert Kennedy, and David Smith.  2018. Estimation of Vital Rates to Assess the Relative Health of Mussel Resources in the Upper Mississippi River System.  A completion report submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program from the U.S. Geological Survey, LTRM-2014MVR3. 29 pp.          

Abstract

Abstract: The limited information on population vital rates in freshwater mussels makes it difficult to evaluate the effects of management actions such as habitat restoration projects on native mussel assemblages. Diverse assemblages with demographically and genetically robust populations and adequate population vital rates are more likely to be sustainable, be resistant to disturbance, and provide important ecological services. Vital rates can provide a framework to evaluate management actions and can serve as inputs to population models. In particular, they may help discern critical life stage bottlenecks and evaluate environmental and management scenarios. Our objectives were to estimate patterns in survival and growth across four species of mussels and over time within a mussel bed, and to assess if these patterns changed across patches with varying mussel densities. Data were obtained at a spatial scale relevant to many commonly placed features (e.g., dredge cut, island construction) of habitat rehabilitation and enhancement projects in the UMR that often have footprints of ~0.05 to 0.1 km2.

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