Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Conservation implications of late Holocene freshwater mussel remains of the Leon River in central Texas

  • FRESHWATER BIVALVES
  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Zooarchaeology is the study of animal remains (bone, shell, antler, and other organic tissues) from archaeological sites, which can provide conservation biologists with data on human–environmental interactions with greater time depth than historical records. Such data are of interest because they can be used to study whether or not contemporary animal communities (in this case of freshwater mussels) have changed in terms of species composition or range as a result of human-induced changes to habitat, which is essential for determining a species’ conservation status and formulating actions to protect remaining populations. This study considers whether or not the taxonomic composition of the freshwater mussel community from the Leon River in central Texas differs between the late Holocene and today. Specifically, we analyzed two zooarchaeological assemblages and compared those results with recent surveys conducted within the Leon River. Three species proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act are found in the zooarchaeological record, of which two are now extirpated from the river basin (Truncilla macrodon and Fusconaia mitchelli). The results of this study provide an example of how zooarchaeological data can be used to evaluate mussel community change through time and provide evidence of range curtailment for threatened mussel species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • 31 Texas Administration Code § 65.175.

  • Alagona, P. S., J. Sandlos & Y. F. Wiersma, 2012. Past imperfect: using historical ecology and baseline data for conservation and restoration projects in North America. Environmental Philosophy 9: 49–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balaguer, L., A. Escudero, J. F. Martín-Duque, I. Mola & J. Aronson, 2014. The historical reference in restoration ecology: re-defining a cornerstone concept. Biological Conservation 176: 12–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogan, A. E., 1990. Stability of recent unionid (Mollusca: Bivalvia) communities over the past 6000 years. In Miller III, W. (ed.), Paleocommmunity Temporal Dynamics: the Long-Term Development of Multispecies Assemblies. The Paleontological Society, Boulder: 112–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bomar, G. W., 1983. Texas Weather. University of Texas Press, Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burlakova, L. E., A. Y. Karatayev, V. A. Karatayev, M. E. May, D. L. Bennett & M. J. Cook, 2011. Biogeography and conservation of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in Texas: patterns of diversity and threats. Diversity and Distributions 17: 393–407. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00753.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cannon, K. P. & M. B. Cannon, 2004. Zooarchaeology and wildlife management in the greater yellowstone ecosystem. In Lyman, R. L. & K. P. Cannon (eds), Zooarchaeology and Conservation Biology. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City: 45–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christian, A. D., J. L. Harris, W. R. Posey, J. F. Hockmuth & G. L. Harp, 2005. Freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionidae) assemblages of the Lower Cache River, Arkansas. Southeastern Naturalist 4: 487–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clean Water Act, 1972. 33 United States Code §§1251–1387.

  • Colley, S. M., 1990. The analysis and interpretation of archaeologial fish remains. Archaeological Method and Theory 2: 207–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driver, J. C., 1992. Identification, classification and zooarchaeology. Circaea 9: 35–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driver, J. C., 2011. Identification, classification and zooarchaeology. Ethnobiology Letters 2: 19–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dombrosky, J., S. Wolverton & L. Nagaoka, 2016. Archaeological data suggest broader early historic distribution for blue sucker (Cycleptus elongatus, Actinopterygii, Catostomidae) in New Mexico. Hydrobiologia 771: 255–263.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Endangered Species Act, 1973. 16 United States Code §1531–1544.

  • Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society, 2016. A national strategy for the conservation of native freshwater mollusks. Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation 19: 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gates, K. K., C. C. Vaughn & J. P. Julian, 2015. Developing environmental flow recommendations for freshwater mussels using the biological traits of species guilds. Freshwater Biology 60: 620–635. doi:10.1111/fwb.12528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giovas, C. M., 2009. The shell game: analytic problems in archaeological mollusc quantification. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 1557–1564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haag, W. R., 2012. North American Freshwater Mussels: Natural History, Ecology and Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Haag, W. R. & M. L. Warren Jr., 2008. Effects of severe drought on freshwater mussel assemblages. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 137: 1165–1178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haag, W. R. & J. D. Williams, 2014. Biodiversity on the brink: an assessment of conservation strategies for North American freshwater mussels. Hydrobiologia 735: 45–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, M., M. Weisler & P. Faulkner, 2015. A refined protocol for calculating MNI in archaeological molluscan shell assemblages: a Marshall Islands case study. Journal of Archaeological Science 57: 168–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howells, R. G., 2006. Statewide Freshwater Mussel Survey: Final Report. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howells, R. G., 2013. Field Guide to Texas Freshwater Mussels. BioStudies, Kerrville, TX.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howells, R. G., R. W. Neck & H. D. Murray, 1996. Freshwater Mussels of Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife Press, Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphries, P. & K. O. Winemiller, 2009. Historical impacts on river fauna, shifting baselines, and challenges for restoration. BioScience 59: 673–684.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inoue, K., B. K. Lang & D. J. Berg, 2015. Past climate change drives current genetic structure of an endangered freshwater mussel species. Molecular Ecology 24: 1910–1926. doi:10.1111/mec.13156

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, R. L., W. T. Slack & P. D. Hartfield, 2005. The freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionidae) of Mississippi. Southeastern Naturalist 4: 77–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landres, P. B., 1992. Temporal scale perspectives in managing biological diversity. Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 57: 292–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyman, R. L., 1996. Applied zooarchaeology: the relevance of faunal analysis to wildlife management. World Archaeology 28: 110–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyman, R. L., 2012. A warrant for applied palaeozoology. Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 87: 513–525.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe-Smith, J. L., J. Di Maio, S. K. Staton & G. L. Mackie, 2000. Effect of sampling effort on the efficiency of the timed search method for sampling freshwater mussel communities. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 19: 725–732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, E. J., J. J. Tomasic & M. C. Barnhart, 2014. A comparison of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) from a late-Archaic archeological excavation with recently sampled Verdigris River, Kansas, populations. The American Midland Naturalist 171: 16–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, J. & E. Peacock, 2014. A prehistoric freshwater mussel assemblage from the Big Sunflower River, Sunflower County, Mississippi. Southeastern Naturalist 13: 626–638.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neves, R. J., 1995. Keynote address: A national strategy for the conservation of native freshwater mussels. Conservation and Management of Freshwater Mussels II 101: 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nobles, T. & Y. Zhang, 2011. Biodiversity loss in freshwater mussels: Importance, threats, and solutions. Biodiversity Loss in a Changing Planet 318: 17–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortmann, A. E., 1909. The destruction of the fresh-water fauna in western Pennsylvania. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 48: 90–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parmalee, P. W. & A. E. Bogan, 1986. Molluscan remains from aborginal middens at the Clinch River breeder reactor plant site, Roane County, Tennessee. American Malacological Bulletin 4: 25–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parmalee, P. W. & W. E. Klippel, 1974. Freshwater mussels as a prehistoric food resource. American Antiquity 39: 421–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parmalee, P. W. & R. R. Polhemus, 2004. Prehistoric and pre-impoundment populations of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in the South Fork Holston River, Tennessee. Southeastern Naturalist 3: 231–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parmalee, P. W., W. E. Klippel & A. E. Bogan, 1982. Aboriginal and modern freshwater mussel assemblages (Pelecypoda: Unionidae) from the Chickamauga Reservoir, Tennessee. Brimleyana 8:75–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peacock, E., 2005. Environmental archaeology. Journal of Alabama Archaeology 51: 32–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peacock, E., 2012. Archaeological freshwater mussel remains and their use in the conservation of an imperiled fauna. In Wolverton, S. & R. L. Lyman (eds), Conservation Biology and Applied Zooarchaeology. University of Arizona Press, Tuscan: 42–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peacock, E., C. R. Randklev, S. Wolverton, R. A. Palmer & S. Zaleski, 2012. The “cultural filter,” human transport of mussel shell, and the applied potential of zooarchaeological data. Ecological Applications 22: 1446–1459.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Popejoy, T., S. Wolverton, L. Nagaoka & C. R. Randklev, 2016. An interpretive framework for assessing freshwater mussel taxonomic abundances in zooarchaeological faunas. Quaternary International. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.101

    Google Scholar 

  • Randklev, C. R., 2010. Zooarchaeoloical analysis of the prehistoric mussel fauna from selected rock-shelters near Belton Lake: Belton County, Texas. Report for AMEC Earth & Environmental Inc, Bothell, WA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randklev, C. R. & B. J. Lundeen, 2012. Prehistoric biogeography and conservation status of threatened freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Unionidae) in the upper Trinity River drainage, Texas. In Wolverton, S. & R. L. Lyman (eds), Conservation Biology and Applied Zooarchaeology. The University of Arizona Press, Tuscan: 68–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randklev, C. R., S. Wolverton & J. H. Kennedy, 2009. A biometric technique for assessing prehistoric freshwater mussel population dynamics (family: Unionidae) in north Texas. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 205–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randklev, C. R., B. J. Lundeen, R. G. Howells & J. H. Kennedy, 2010a. First account of a living population of Texas fawnsfoot, Truncilla Macrodon (Bivalvia: Unionidae), in the Brazos River, Texas. The Southwestern Naturalist 55: 297–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randklev, C. R., S. Wolverton, B. J. Lundeen & J. H. Kennedy, 2010b. A paleozoological perspective on unionid (Mollusca: Unionidae) zoogeography in the upper Trinity River basin, Texas. Ecological Applications 20: 2359–2368.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Randklev, C. R., M. S. Johnson, E. Tsakiris, S. Rogers-Oetker, K. J. Roe, J. L. Harris, S. E. McMurray, C. Robertson, J. Groce & N. Wilkins, 2012. False spike, Quadrula mitchelli (Bivalvia: Unionidae), is not extinct: first account of a live population in over 30 years. American Malacological Bulletin 30: 327–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randklev, C. R., M. S. Johnson, E. Tsakiris, J. Groce & N. Wilkins, 2013a. Status of the freshwater mussel (Unionidae) communities of the mainstem of the Leon River, Texas. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 23: 390–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randklev, C. R., E. Tsakiris, R. G. Howells, J. Groce, M. S. Johnson, J. Bergmann, C. Robertson, A. Blair, B. Littrell & N. A. Johnson, 2013b. Distribution of extant populations of Quadrula mitchelli (false spike). Ellipsaria 15: 18–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randklev, C. R., E. Tsakiris, M. S. Johnson, J. A. Skorupski, L. E. Burlakova, J. Groce & N. Wilkins, 2013c. Is false spike, Quadrula mitchelli (Bivalvia: Unionidae), extinct? First account of a very recently deceased individual in over thirty years. The Southwestern Naturalist 58: 247–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rick, T. C. & R. Lockwood, 2013. Integrating paleobiology, archeology, and history to inform biological conservation. Conservation Biology 27: 45–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, D. R. & A. A. Echelle, 1981. Factor analysis of associations of fishes in Little River, central Texas, with an interdrainage comparison. The American Midland Naturalist 106: 379–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scharf, E. A., 2014. Deep time: the emerging role of archaeology in landscape ecology. Landscape Ecology 29: 563–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shea, C. P., J. T. Peterson, M. J. Conroy & J. M. Wisniewski, 2013. Evaluating the influence of land use, drought and reach isolation on the occurrence of freshwater mussel species in the lower Flint River basin, Georgia (USA). Freshwater Biology 58: 382–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sowards, B., E. T. Tsakiris, M. Libson & C. R. Randklev, 2013. Recent collection of a false spike (Quadrula mitchelli) in the San Saba River, Texas, with comments on habitat use. Walkerana 16: 63–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strayer, D. L., 2008. Freshwater Mussel Ecology: A Multifactor Approach to Distribution and Abundance. University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Strecker, J. K., 1931. The Naiades or Pearly Freshwater Mussels of Texas. Baylor University Museum, Waco, TX.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swetnam, T. W., C. D. Allen & J. L. Betancourt, 1999. Applied historical ecology: using the past to manage for the future. Ecological Applications 9: 1189–1206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tharp, B. C., 1939. The Vegetation of Texas. Anson Jones Press, Houston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsakiris, E. T. & C. R. Randklev, 2016. Structural changes in freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionidae) assemblages downstream of Lake Somerville, Texas. American Midland Naturalist 175: 120–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 2014. Federal register: endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; Review of native species that are candidates for listing as endangered or threatened; Annual notice of findings on resubmitted petitions. Annual description of progress on listing actions 79: 72450–72497.

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Geological Survey, 2015. National Water Information System data available on the World Wide Web (USGS Water Data for the Nation), http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/si. Accessed 1 January 2015.

  • Vaughn, C. C., C. L. Atkinson & J. P. Julian, 2015. Drought-induced changes in flow regimes lead to long-term losses in mussel-provided ecosystem services. Ecology and Evolution 5: 1291–1305.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn, C. C. & C. M. Taylor, 1999. Impoundments and the decline of freshwater mussels: a case study of an extinction gradient. Conservation Biology 13: 912–920.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, R. E., 1991 Freshwater mussels as paleoenvironmental indicators: A quantitative approach to assemblage analysis. In Purdue, J. R., Klippel, W. E., & B. W. Styles (eds), Beamers Bobwhites and Blue-Points: Tributes to the Career of Paul W. Parmalee. Illinois State Museum: 23-66

  • Weber, E., 2005. Population size and structure of three mussel species (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in a northeastern German river with special regard to influences of environmental factors. Hydrobiologia 537: 169–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weinstein, R. A., 2015. Archaeological and geological test excavations at site 41HM61, Hamilton County, Texas: Middle Archaic through late prehistoric occupation in the Leon River valley of central Texas. Environmatal Affairs Division of the Texas Department of Transportation.

  • Williams, J. D. & A. Fradkin, 1999. Fusconaia apalachicola, a new species of freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionidae) from pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Apalachicola basin of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Tulane Studies in Zoology 31: 51–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J. D., A. E. Bogan & J. T. Garner, 2008. Freshwater Mussels of Alabama and the Mobile Basin in Geogria, Mississippi, and Tenessee. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolaver, B., C. Cook, B. Scanlon & M. Young, 2012. A hydrologic-characterization approach for Texas aquatic species studies. Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions 62: 645–651.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolverton, S., 2013. Data quality in zooarchaeological faunal identification. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 20: 381–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolverton, S. & R. L. Lyman, 2012a. Conservation Biology and Applied Zooarchaeology. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolverton, S. & R. L. Lyman, 2012b. Introduction to applied zooarchaeology. In Wolverton, S. & R. L. Lyman (eds), Conservation Biology and Applied Zooarchaeology. University of Arizona, Tuscan: 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolverton, S. & C. R. Randklev, 2016. Archaeological data indicate a broader late Holocene distribution of the sandbank pocketbook (Unionidae: Lampsilis satura Lea 1852) in Texas. American Malacological Bulletin, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolverton, S., L. Nagaoka & T. C. Rick, 2016. Applied Zooarchaeology: Five Case Studies. Elliot Werner Publications Inc, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolverton, S., C. R. Randklev & J. H. Kennedy, 2010. A conceptual model for freshwater mussel (Family: Unionidae) remain preservation in zooarchaeological assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science 37: 164–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Funding for identification of the 41HM61 assemblage provided by Texas Department of Transportation and Coastal Environments, Inc. Funding for the identification of the Belton Lake assemblages provided by AMEC Earth & Environmental, Inc. Funding for the 2011 Leon River Survey provided by Texas Department of Transportation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oklahoma Biological Survey, Department of Biology, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program, University of Oklahoma, 111. E. Chesapeake St., Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Traci Popejoy

  2. Department of Geography and the Environment, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76203, USA

    Traci Popejoy, Steve Wolverton & Lisa Nagaoka

  3. Texas A&M, Institute of Renewable and Natural Resources, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Charles R. Randklev

Authors
  1. Traci Popejoy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Charles R. Randklev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Steve Wolverton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lisa Nagaoka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Traci Popejoy.

Additional information

Guest editors: Manuel P. M. Lopes-Lima, Ronaldo G. Sousa, Lyuba E. Burlakova, Alexander Y. Karatayev & Knut Mehler / Ecology and Conservation of Freshwater Bivalves

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Popejoy, T., Randklev, C.R., Wolverton, S. et al. Conservation implications of late Holocene freshwater mussel remains of the Leon River in central Texas. Hydrobiologia 810, 477–487 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-3041-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-3041-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation