Identifying suitable habitat of two federally endangered mussels in the Middle Fork and Salt Fork Vermilion rivers

Ruellan, Hugo

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115345 Copy

Description

Title

Identifying suitable habitat of two federally endangered mussels in the Middle Fork and Salt Fork Vermilion rivers

Author(s)

Ruellan, Hugo

Issue Date

2022-03-09

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Stodola, Kirk

Committee Member(s)

• Suski, Cory
• Larson, Eric R

Department of Study

Natural Res & Env Sci

Discipline

Natural Res & Env Sciences

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Freshwater mussels
• habitat suitability models
• surrogate species
• host fishes
• translocations
• conservation

Abstract

Freshwater mussels are the most imperiled freshwater taxa and translocation of these endangered species is one option for conservation. However, suitable habitat for translocated mussels is often unknown. The amount of suitable habitat for the federally endangered Northern Riffleshell and Clubshell in the Middle Fork and Salt Fork Vermilion rivers in Illinois has not been determined. To identify suitable habitat, I sampled 79 sites in the two rivers looking for closely related surrogate species of Northern Riffleshell and Clubshell, along with their host fishes. I determined if suitable habitat was present by modeling presence/absence and abundance of surrogate mussel species to create a habitat suitability index and validated those model predictions. I also determined the current distributions of the host fishes of Northern Riffleshell and Clubshell. My results indicate there are more suitable habitats than previously believed throughout both rivers. These rivers should be able to support a larger population of these mussels and these results can be used to identify potential sites for future translocations.

Graduation Semester

2022-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Hugo Ruellan

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