{"id":5976,"date":"2009-12-02T14:52:36","date_gmt":"2009-12-02T14:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.auburn.edu\/aww\/?p=69"},"modified":"2023-05-18T14:48:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T14:48:42","slug":"au-and-appalachian-state-researchers-find-urban-development-linked-to-freshwater-mussel-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/au-and-appalachian-state-researchers-find-urban-development-linked-to-freshwater-mussel-decline\/","title":{"rendered":"AU and Appalachian State researchers  find urban development linked to freshwater mussel decline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Influence of urban tributaries on freshwater mussel populations in a   biologically diverse piedmont (USA) stream <\/p>\n<p>Michael\u00a0M.\u00a0Gangloff1\u00a0,     Lynn\u00a0Siefferman1, Wendy\u00a0Seesock2 and E.\u00a0Cliff   Webber2<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a name=\"Aff1\" id=\"Aff1\"><\/a>(1)\u00a0<\/td>\n<td>Department of Biology, Appalachian State University,   572 Rivers Street, P.O. Box 32027, Boone, NC\u00a028608-2027,   USA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a name=\"Aff2\" id=\"Aff2\"><\/a>(2)\u00a0<\/td>\n<td>Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures,   Auburn University, Swingle Hall, Auburn, AL\u00a036849,   USA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p> <strong>Abstract<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Southeastern USA is currently   experiencing a period of rapid growth of human populations that is likely having   profound effects on the region&rsquo;s unique aquatic biota. Using both survey data   and experimental protocols, we assessed the influences of water and habitat   quality on freshwater mussel populations in a small Piedmont stream. Chewacla   Creek is a high-quality stream located near the rapidly growing towns of Auburn   and Opelika in east-central Alabama. From 1999 to 2007 we monitored freshwater   mussel populations and measured substrate and water chemistry variables in   Chewacla Creek. Surveys revealed that mussel abundance decreased substantially   concomitant with degraded habitat and water quality downstream of three highly   urbanized tributaries. We conducted sentinel trials using adult mussels   (<em>Villosa lienosa<\/em>) in Chewacla Creek and a tributary (Parkerson Mill   Creek) that receives wastewater discharge. Sentinel mussels were placed in cages   at three locations downstream of the effluent discharge point and at one   upstream site (control). Sentinel mussels exposed to wastewater discharge   exhibited lower survival rates compared to control animals. Together, survey and   experimental data suggest that degraded tributary sub-catchments may fragment   mussel populations in high-quality streams. Moreover, our data indicate that   protection of sensitive aquatic taxa necessitates effective management of water   quality across large spatial scales. <\/p>\n<h3 align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.conservationmaven.com\/frontpage\/2009\/11\/11\/the-fate-of-freshwater-mussels-in-a-suburbanizing-landscape.html\">Read Review of Article<\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.springerlink.com\/content\/f6r4t72271762673\/\">Read Article  <\/a><\/h3>\n<p>&#160;<\/p>\n<p>&#160;<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Influence of urban tributaries on freshwater mussel populations in a biologically diverse piedmont (USA) stream Michael\u00a0M.\u00a0Gangloff1\u00a0, Lynn\u00a0Siefferman1, Wendy\u00a0Seesock2 and E.\u00a0Cliff Webber2 (1)\u00a0 Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, 572 Rivers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7772,"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5976\/revisions\/7772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aaes.auburn.edu\/wrc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}