Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
Department
Wildlife and Fisheries Resources
Committee Chair
Patricia M. Mazik
Committee Co-Chair
Michael P. Strager
Abstract
Freshwater mussels are in decline, particularly in the Appalachian region of North America. This region contains the world's greatest diversity of freshwater mussels, but many species are now threatened or endangered. Little is known of the basic ecology and distributions of species of freshwater mussels relative to other freshwater organisms. The goal of this study was to use predictive modeling to predict distributions of freshwater mussels in the Appalachians and identify correlated factors using a watershed framework. Models were developed in the upper Mid-Atlantic and Ohio drainage regions using subwatersheds and separately in the Tennessee region using catchments. Models developed at this scale had low predictive ability because few surveys of freshwater mussels are available at the subwatershed scale and a regional extent. Independent data were unavailable to evaluate catchment-based models. Additional mussel surveys are necessary to expand the potential for developing robust predictive models of most freshwater mussel species.
Recommended Citation
Mynsberge, Alison R., "Predictive modeling of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) in the Appalachians" (2008). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 2611.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/2611