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The Control of an Invasive Bivalve, Corbicula fluminea, Using Gas Impermeable Benthic Barriers in a Large Natural Lake

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Abstract

Anoxia can restrict species establishment in aquatic systems and the artificial promotion of these conditions can provide an effective control strategy for invasive molluscs. Low abundances (2–20 m−2) of the nonnative bivalve, Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea), were first recorded in Lake Tahoe, CA–NV in 2002 and by 2010 nuisance-level population densities (>10,000 m−2) were observed. A non-chemical control method using gas impermeable benthic barriers to reduce dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations available to C. fluminea was tested in this ultra-oligotrophic natural lake. In 2009, the impact of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) sheets (9 m2, n = 6) on C. fluminea beds was tested on 1–7 day intervals over a 56 day period (August–September). At an average water temperature of 18 °C, DO concentrations under these small barriers were reduced to zero after 72 h resulting in 100 % C. fluminea mortality after 28 days. In 2010, a large EPDM barrier (1,950 m2) was applied to C. fluminea populations for 120 days (July–November). C. fluminea abundances were reduced over 98 % after barrier removal, and remained significantly reduced (>90 %) 1 year later. Non-target benthic macroinvertebrate abundances were also reduced, with variable taxon-specific recolonization rates. High C. fluminea abundance under anoxic conditions increased the release of ammonium and soluble reactive phosphorus from the sediment substrate; but levels of unionized ammonia were low at 0.004–0.005 mg L−1. Prolonged exposure to anoxia using benthic barriers can provide an effective short term control strategy for C. fluminea.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act and the Nevada Division of State Lands with support by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. We would like to thank David Aldridge, Robert McMahon, Karen Gehrts, Manfried Grieshaber for their expert advice and guidance on this research. We would also like to thank Zach Hymanson, Tamara Sasaki, Cathie Preston, Anne Liston, Veronica Edirveerasingam-Alumbaugh, Scott Hackley, Steve Sesma, Christine Ngai-Ryan, Todd Steissberg, Annie Caires, Matt Daniels, Joe Sullivan and Marianne Denton for their assistance in the data collection, sample processing and analysis.

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  1. Tahoe Environmental Research Center, University of California Davis, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village, NV, 89451, USA

    Marion E. Wittmann, John E. Reuter, S. Geoffrey Schladow, Brant C. Allen & Katie J. Webb

  2. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada Reno, 1664 N. Virginia St., Reno, NV, 89512, USA

    Sudeep Chandra

  3. Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    John E. Reuter

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556-0369, USA

    Marion E. Wittmann

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  1. Marion E. Wittmann
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Correspondence to Marion E. Wittmann.

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Wittmann, M.E., Chandra, S., Reuter, J.E. et al. The Control of an Invasive Bivalve, Corbicula fluminea, Using Gas Impermeable Benthic Barriers in a Large Natural Lake. Environmental Management 49, 1163–1173 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9850-5

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