Date of Award
9-27-2023
Publication Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.Sc.
Department
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Supervisor
Catherine Febria
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
There are over 300 species of freshwater mussels (Family: Unionidae) across North America with many populations at risk or in decline. Mussels provide essential ecosystem services, yet they remain largely underexplored in terms of distribution, population sizes, life history traits, and co-existence with hosts, making species conservation efforts a challenge. To advance the conservation of freshwater mussel species at risk of extinction (SAR), this thesis aims to extend understanding of freshwater mussel SAR distributions in a biodiverse but vulnerable watershed in the Laurentian Great Lakes basin. This thesis asks: How can freshwater mussel SAR distribution data be leveraged through existing collaborations and other available knowledge? Further, how can we address uncertainty in freshwater mussel distributions through a better understanding of their host fish requirements? My work was conducted in the Sydenham River watershed, which is the most biodiverse in Canada with 35 different mussel species, 14 of which are federally listed as at risk of extinction. I employed multiple research methods including: an empirical field survey of existing mussel assemblages and environmental conditions across the watershed, a literature synthesis to compile all available host fish data, and expert input to refine local host information for the watershed. In my empirical survey, I found two major patterns in assemblages across the watershed: habitats within the main stem East branch of the watershed were significantly richer and significantly different based on environmental characteristics than the North branch. Additionally, host fishes were not very good predictors for where SAR freshwater mussels reside. Further, habitat characteristics informed mussel assemblage composition. My results offered multiple lines of evidence to demonstrate that harmonizing available datasets can help better understand mussel communities and therefore be applied to watershed-scale restoration efforts in the Great Lakes and beyond.
Recommended Citation
Willsie, Julia Ann, "Using Harmonization to Examine Freshwater Mussel Species at Risk: A Sydenham River Watershed Case Study" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 9275.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/9275