Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A Tale of Two Rivers: Implications of Water Management Practices for Mussel Biodiversity Outcomes During Droughts

  • Report
  • Published:
AMBIO Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Droughts often pose situations where stream water levels are lowest while human demand for water is highest. Here we present results of an observational study documenting changes in freshwater mussel communities in two southern US rivers during a multi-year drought. During a 13-year period water releases into the Kiamichi River from an impoundment were halted during droughts, while minimum releases from an impoundment were maintained in the Little River. The Kiamichi observed nearly twice as many low-flow events known to cause mussel mortality than the Little, and regression tree analyses suggest that this difference was influenced by reduced releases. During this period mussel communities in the Kiamichi declined in species richness and abundance, changes that were not observed in the Little. These results suggest that reduced releases during droughts likely led to mussel declines in one river, while maintaining reservoir releases may have sustained mussel populations in another.

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
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Allen, D.C., and C.C. Vaughn. 2010. Substrate and hydraulic variables limit freshwater mussel species richness and abundance. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 29: 383–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, D.C., and C.C. Vaughn. 2011. Density-dependent biodiversity effects on physical habitat modification by freshwater bivalves. Ecology 92: 1013–1019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, D.C., C.C. Vaughn, J.F. Kelly, J.T. Cooper, and M.H. Engel. 2012. Bottom–up biodiversity effects increase resource subsidy flux between ecosystems. Ecology 93: 2165–2174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron, J.S., N.L. Poff, P.L. Angermeier, C.N. Dahm, P.H. Gleick, N.G. Hairston, R.B. Jackson, C.A. Johnston, et al. 2002. Meeting ecological and societal needs for freshwater. Ecological Applications 12: 1247–1260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bednarek, A.T., and D.D. Hart. 2005. Modifying dam operations to restore rivers: Ecological responses to Tennessee river dam mitigation. Ecological Applications 15: 997–1008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradford, M.J., P.S. Higgins, J. Korman, and J. Sneep. 2011. Test of an environmental flow release in a British Columbia river: Does more water mean more fish? Freshwater Biology 56: 2119–2134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connor, E.J., and D.E. Pflug. 2004. Changes in the distribution and density of pink, chum, and Chinook salmon spawning in the upper Skagit River in response to flow management measures. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 24: 835–852.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De’ath, G., and K.E. Fabricius. 2000. Classification and regression trees: A powerful yet simple technique for ecological data analysis. Ecology 81: 3178–3192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decker, A.S., M.J. Bradford, and P.S. Higgins. 2008. Rate of biotic colonization following flow restoration below a diversion dam in the Bridge River, British Columbia. River Research and Applications 24: 876–883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doyle, M.W., J.M. Harbor, and E.H. Stanley. 2003. Toward policies and decision-making for dam removal. Environmental Management 31: 453–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon, P.M., S.W. Golladay, W.K. Michener, and M.C. Freeman. 2004. Drought responses of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) in coastal plain tributaries of the Flint River basin, Georgia. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 19: 667–679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galbraith, H.S., and C.C. Vaughn. 2009. Temperature and food interact to influence gamete development in freshwater mussels. Hydrobiologia 636: 35–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Galbraith, H.S., and C.C. Vaughn. 2011. Effects of reservoir management on abundance, condition, parasitism, and reproductive traits of downstream mussels. River Research and Applications 27: 193–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galbraith, H.S., D.E. Spooner, and C.C. Vaughn. 2008. Status of rare and endangered freshwater mussels in Southeastern Oklahoma. Southwestern Naturalist 53: 45–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galbraith, H.S., D.E. Spooner, and C.C. Vaughn. 2010. Synergistic effects of regional climate patterns and local water management on freshwater mussel communities. Biological Conservation 143: 1175–1183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gido, K.B., and D.L. Propst. 2012. Long-term dynamics of native and nonnative fishes in the San Juan River, New Mexico and Utah, under a partially managed flow regime. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 141: 645–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gore, J.A. 1978. Technique for predicting in-stream flow requirements of benthic macroinvertebrates. Freshwater Biology 8: 141–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gough, H.M., A.M.G. Landis, and J.A. Stoeckel. 2012. Behaviour and physiology are linked in the responses of freshwater mussels to drought. Freshwater Biology 57: 2356–2366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haag, W.R. 2012. North American freshwater mussels: Ecology, natural history, and conservation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change). 2007. Climate change 2007. 4th Assessment Report, 104 pp.

  • Isely, F.B. 1924. The freshwater mussel fauna of eastern Oklahoma. Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science 4: 43–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Konrad, C.P., J.D. Olden, D.A. Lytle, T.S. Melis, J.C. Schmidt, E.N. Bray, M.C. Freeman, K.B. Gido, et al. 2011. Large-scale flow experiments for managing river systems. BioScience 61: 948–959.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Layzer, J.B., M.E. Gordon, and R.M. Anderson. 1993. Mussels: The forgotten fauna of regulated rivers. A case study of the Caney Fork River. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management 8: 63–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, L., Y. Hong, C.N. Bednarczyk, B. Yong, M.A. Shafer, R. Riley, and J.E. Hocker. 2012. Hydro-climatological drought analyses and projections using meteorological and hydrological drought indices: A case study in Blue River Basin, Oklahoma. Water Resources Management 26: 2761–2779.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lytle, D.A., and N.L. Poff. 2004. Adaptation to natural flow regimes. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 19: 94–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, W.J., C.C. Vaughn, K.B. Gido, and E. Marsh-Matthews. 2005. Southern plains rivers. In Rivers of North America, ed. A.C. Benke and C.E. Cushing, 283–325. Boston, MA: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maynard, C.M., and S.N. Lane. 2012. Reservoir compensation releases: Impact on the macroinvertebrate community of the Derwent River, Northumberland, UK—A longitudinal study. River Research and Applications 28: 692–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milly, P.C.D., K.A. Dunne, and A.V. Vecchia. 2005. Global pattern of trends in streamflow and water availability in a changing climate. Nature 438: 347–350.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mulholland, P.J., G.R. Best, C.C. Coutant, G.M. Hornberger, J.L. Meyer, P.J. Robinson, J.R. Stenberg, R.E. Turner, et al. 1997. Effects of climate change on freshwater ecosystems of the south-eastern United States and the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Hydrological Processes 11: 949–970.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OWRB (Oklahoma Water Resources Board). 2012. Oklahoma comprehensive water plan. http://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/ocwp/ocwp.php. Accessed 11 Feb 2013.

  • Pederson, N., A.R. Bell, T.A. Knight, C. Leland, N. Malcomb, K.J. Anchukaitis, K. Tackett, J. Scheff, et al. 2012. A long-term perspective on a modern drought in the American Southeast. Environmental Research Letters 7: 014034.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, J.T., J.M. Wisniewski, C.P. Shea, and C.R. Jackson. 2011. Estimation of mussel population response to hydrologic alteration in a Southeastern US stream. Environmental Management 48: 109–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poff, N.L., J.D. Olden, D.M. Merritt, and D.M. Pepin. 2007. Homogenization of regional river dynamics by dams and global biodiversity implications. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104: 5732–5737.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Richter, B.D. 2010. Re-thinking environmental flows: From allocations and reserves to sustainability boundaries. River Research and Applications 26: 1052–1063.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richter, B.D., R. Mathews, and R. Wigington. 2003. Ecologically sustainable water management: Managing river flows for ecological integrity. Ecological Applications 13: 206–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rood, S.B., G.M. Samuelson, J.H. Braatne, C.R. Gourley, F.M.R. Hughes, and J.M. Mahoney. 2005. Managing river flows to restore floodplain forests. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3: 193–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roy, A.H., M.C. Freeman, B.J. Freeman, S.J. Wenger, W.E. Ensign, and J.L. Meyer. 2005. Investigating hydrologic alteration as a mechanism of fish assemblage shifts in urbanizing streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 24: 656–678.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rypel, A.L., W.R. Haag, and R.H. Findlay. 2009. Pervasive hydrologic effects on freshwater mussels and riparian trees in southeastern floodplain ecosystems. Wetlands 29: 497–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabo, J.L., T. Sinha, L.C. Bowling, G.H.W. Schoups, W.W. Wallender, M.E. Campana, K.A. Cherkauer, P.L. Fuller, et al. 2010. Reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107: 21263–21270.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Spooner, D.E., and C.C. Vaughn. 2008. A trait-based approach to species’ roles in stream ecosystems: Climate change, community structure, and material cycling. Oecologia 158: 307–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spooner, D.E., and C.C. Vaughn. 2009. Species richness and temperature influence mussel biomass: A partitioning approach applied to natural communities. Ecology 90: 781–790.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spooner, D.E., and C.C. Vaughn. 2012. Species dominance and environmental gradients interact to govern primary production in freshwater mussel communities. Oikos 121: 403–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spooner, D.E., M.A. Xenopoulos, C. Schneider, and D.A. Woolnough. 2011. Coextirpation of host-affiliate relationships in rivers: The role of climate change, water withdrawal, and host-specificity. Global Change Biology 17: 1720–1732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer, D.L. 2008. Freshwater mussel ecology: A multifactor approach to distribution and abundance. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strayer, D.L., J.A. Downing, W.R. Haag, T.L. King, J.B. Layzer, T.J. Newton, and S.J. Nichols. 2004. Changing perspectives on pearly mussels, North America’s most imperiled animals. BioScience 54: 429–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travnichek, V.H., M.B. Bain, and M.J. Maceina. 1995. Recovery of a warmwater fish assemblage after the initiation of a minimum-flow release downstream from a hydroelectric dam. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 124: 836–844.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • USACE (United States Army Corp of Engineers). 2010. National inventory of dams. http://geo.usace.army.mil/pgis/f?p=397:1:0. Accessed 11 Feb 2013.

  • Vaughn, C.C. 2010. Biodiversity losses and ecosystem function in freshwaters: Emerging conclusions and research directions. BioScience 60: 25–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn, C.C. 2012. Life history traits and abundance can predict local colonisation and extinction rates of freshwater mussels. Freshwater Biology 57: 982–992.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn, C.C., and M. Pyron. 1995. Population ecology of the endangered Ouachita Rock Pocketbook mussel, Arkansia wheeleri (Bivalvia: Unionidae), in the Kiamichi River, Oklahoma. American Malacological Bulletin 11: 145–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn, C.C., and 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 

  • Vaughn, C.C., D.E. Spooner, and H.S. Galbraith. 2007. Context-dependent species identity effects within a functional group of filter-feeding bivalves. Ecology 88: 1654–1662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding for this project was provided by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (Projects E-12, E-59, T-10, and T-38) and the National Science Foundation (DEB-0211010, DEB-9306687, DEB-9870092, and DBI-1103500). We thank many people who contributed in the field, particularly M. Craig, K. Eberhard, J. Hilliard, D. Partridge, M. Pyron, C. Taylor, and M. Winston in the 1990s; and W. Allen, S. Dengler, D. Fenolio, K. Hobson, D. Morris, and K. Reagan in the 2000s. R. McPherson of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey provided Mesonet data. We thank the Little River Wildlife Refuge for cooperation in establishing sampling sites on managed lands, and private landowners for access to other sampling sites. This is a contribution to the program of the Oklahoma Biological Survey.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Daniel C. Allen

    Present address: School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

  2. Heather S. Galbraith & Daniel E. Spooner

    Present address: United States Geological Survey, Northern Appalachian Research Laboratory, Leetown Science Center, 176 Straight Run Road, Wellsboro, PA, 16901, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oklahoma Biological Survey and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Daniel C. Allen, Heather S. Galbraith, Caryn C. Vaughn & Daniel E. Spooner

Authors
  1. Daniel C. Allen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Heather S. Galbraith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Caryn C. Vaughn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Daniel E. Spooner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel C. Allen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Allen, D.C., Galbraith, H.S., Vaughn, C.C. et al. A Tale of Two Rivers: Implications of Water Management Practices for Mussel Biodiversity Outcomes During Droughts. AMBIO 42, 881–891 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0420-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0420-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation