Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2011
Publication Title
Journal of Great Lakes Research
Abstract
Concern exists that the introduction of dreissenid mussels following long-term effects of pollution may have completely eliminated native mussel species from Lake Erie. Natural seiche events were used to facilitate surveys for live unionids on five occasions in the western basin of Lake Erie and Sandusky Bay between 2007 and 2009, and beach and estuary surveys were conducted at numerous additional sites between 2004 and 2009. Sixteen unionid species were found living in or near Lake Erie, including six sites in the nearshore zone of the lake. Each community consisted of live individuals from two to eight species, and evidence included live and/or fresh dead material from several state listed species at multiple sites. Where estimated, the mean overall density was low at 0.09 unionids/m2, although similar to other known unionid refuges in the lower Great Lakes. While the ephemeral nature of seiche events makes them a limited survey tool, their application combined with increasing numbers of fresh shells washing ashore over the past few years indicates that unionids are extant in the western basin of Lake Erie, and may further suggest that conditions may be improving for native mussel species.
DOI
10.1016/j.jglr.2010.12.006
Version
Postprint
Publisher's Statement
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Great Lakes Research. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Great Lakes Research, 37, 1, (March 2011) DOI 10.1016/j.jglr.2010.12.006
Recommended Citation
Crail TD, Krebs RA, Zanatta DT. 2011. Unionid mussels from nearshore zones of lake erie. J Great Lakes Res 37(1):199-202.
Volume
37
Issue
1
Comments
Student stipend support to TC by a fellowship from the NSFGK-12 program # 0742395 "Graduate Fellows in High School STEM Education: An Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface" through the Lake Erie Research Center. The Winous Point Marsh Conservancy is also acknowledged along with a small grant to RK from the Cleveland Zoo.