Program Type

Undergraduate

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Kyler Hecke, Dr. Tom Nupp

Document Type

Poster

Location

Face-to-face

Start Date

18-4-2024 2:00 PM

Abstract

Anthropogenic influences such as mining and water quality degradation from wastewater effluents and agricultural runoff heavily impact freshwater mussel communities. The South-Central Plains (SCP) Ecoregion in Arkansas contains the Smackover Formation, an area that has been exploited for its oil with high frequency of drilling. In 1922 the Smackover pool in Union County was found and quickly became one of the world's most productive oil sites. Hurricane Creek and Smackover Creek, two tributaries within the Ouachita River basin, have experienced negative impacts from oil exploration and mining. However, to our knowledge, mussel communities in these creeks have not been assessed in the past twenty years. We surveyed mussel communities at seven sites on Hurricane Creek and five on Smackover Creek using a rapid assessment protocol. Initially a one-hour broad search was conducted using snorkeling, grubbing, and raking techniques. This search was followed by a 30-minute focused search in the area where the highest abundance of mussels was initially found. Each mussel was identified, measured (mm), and returned to the location where it was initially found. Additionally, we collected basic water quality and 38 habitat parameters. We found five species of native mussels: Eastern Pondmussel (Sagittunio nasutus), Louisiana Fatmucket (Lampsilis hydiana), Texas Lilliput (Toxolasma texasiense), Tapered Pondhorn (Uniomerus declivis), and Yellow Sandshell (Lampsilis teres) (n = 143) across eight sites and no mussels at five sites. Furthermore, we found evidence of active recruitment through the presence of smaller individuals. Our study provides insight into the importance of heavily degraded small streams for mussel populations in the SCP Ecoregion. We also suggest that future survey efforts should incorporate small tributaries in determining mussel distributions.

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Apr 18th, 2:00 PM

Mussel Communities of Two Impacted Tributaries in the Arkansas South Central Plains Ecoregion

Face-to-face

Anthropogenic influences such as mining and water quality degradation from wastewater effluents and agricultural runoff heavily impact freshwater mussel communities. The South-Central Plains (SCP) Ecoregion in Arkansas contains the Smackover Formation, an area that has been exploited for its oil with high frequency of drilling. In 1922 the Smackover pool in Union County was found and quickly became one of the world's most productive oil sites. Hurricane Creek and Smackover Creek, two tributaries within the Ouachita River basin, have experienced negative impacts from oil exploration and mining. However, to our knowledge, mussel communities in these creeks have not been assessed in the past twenty years. We surveyed mussel communities at seven sites on Hurricane Creek and five on Smackover Creek using a rapid assessment protocol. Initially a one-hour broad search was conducted using snorkeling, grubbing, and raking techniques. This search was followed by a 30-minute focused search in the area where the highest abundance of mussels was initially found. Each mussel was identified, measured (mm), and returned to the location where it was initially found. Additionally, we collected basic water quality and 38 habitat parameters. We found five species of native mussels: Eastern Pondmussel (Sagittunio nasutus), Louisiana Fatmucket (Lampsilis hydiana), Texas Lilliput (Toxolasma texasiense), Tapered Pondhorn (Uniomerus declivis), and Yellow Sandshell (Lampsilis teres) (n = 143) across eight sites and no mussels at five sites. Furthermore, we found evidence of active recruitment through the presence of smaller individuals. Our study provides insight into the importance of heavily degraded small streams for mussel populations in the SCP Ecoregion. We also suggest that future survey efforts should incorporate small tributaries in determining mussel distributions.