Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Downstream dispersal of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) under different flow conditions in a coupled lake-stream ecosystem

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Dispersal, establishment, and spread of aquatic invasive species such as the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) can be influenced by riverine velocities and volumetric flows in invaded lake-stream ecosystems. Zebra mussels, which have a planktonic larval form (veliger), disperse rapidly downstream from a source population. Concentrations, dispersal, and body conditions of zebra mussel veligers were studied under different volumetric flow, or discharge, conditions in a coupled lake-stream ecosystem in northern Texas, USA. Veliger densities in lotic environments were strongly related to population dynamics in upstream lentic source populations. A strong exponential decrease in veliger density was observed through a 28-km downstream study reach. Increased water releases from the source reservoir increased veliger flux and dispersal potential, concomitantly increasing veliger flux and decreasing transit time. However, passage through release gates in the dam and increased turbulence in the river during high-discharge events could negatively affect body condition of veligers, and veliger body condition generally decreased from the source population to the farthest downstream site and was lower for veligers during periods of high discharge. Thus increased discharge appears to reduce the proportion of viable veligers because of increased turbulence-induced mortality. Colonization of distant downstream reservoirs can occur if discharge and propagule pressure are sufficient or if interim habitats are suitable for establishment of in-stream populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aldridge DC, Elliott P, Moggridge GD (2006) Microencapsulated biobullets for the control of biofouling zebra mussels. Environ Sci Technol 40:975–979

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allen YC, Ramcharan CW (2001) Dreissena distribution in commercial waterways of the U.S.: using failed invasions to identify limiting factors. Can J Aquat Sci 58:898–907

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bobeldyk AM, Bossenbroek JM, Evans-White MA, Lodge DM, Lamberti GA (2005) Secondary spread of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in coupled lake-stream systems. Ecoscience 12:339–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bossenbroek JM, Kraft CE, Nekola JC (2001) Prediction of long-distance dispersal using gravity models: zebra mussel invasion of inland lakes. Ecol Appl 11:1778–1788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Britton DK, Dingman S (2011) Use of quaternary ammonium to control the spread of aquatic invasive species by wildland fire equipment. Aquat Invasions 6:169–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burlakova LE, Karatayev AY, Karatayev VA, May ME, Bennett DL, Cook MJ (2011) Biogeography and conservation of freshwater mussels (Bilvalvia: Unionidae) in Texas: patterns of diversity and threats. Divers Distrib 17:393–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burlakova LE, Tulumello BL, Karatayev AY, Krebs RA, Schloesser DW, Paterson WL, Griffith TA, Scott MW, Crail T, Zanatta DT (2014) Competitive replacement of invasive congeners may relax impact on native species: interactions among zebra, quagga, and unionid mussels. PLoS ONE 9:e114926

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Carling PA (1992) In-stream hydraulics and sediment transport. In: Calow P, Petts GE (eds) The rivers handbook, vol 1. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London, pp 101–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlton JT (1993) Dispersal mechanisms of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). In: Nalepa TF, Schloesser DW (eds) Zebra mussels: biology, impacts, and control. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 677–697

    Google Scholar 

  • Churchill CJ (2013) Spatio-temporal spawning and larval dynamics of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in a north Texas reservoir: implications for invasions in the southern United States. Aquat Invasions 8:389–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Churchill CJ, Baldys S (2012) USGS zebra mussel monitoring program for North Texas. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2012–3077, 6 pp

  • Churchill CJ, Quigley DP (2017) Biological and physical data for zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) veligers collected from a coupled lake-stream ecosystem in north Texas, 2012–2014. U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7CF9N9T

  • Gray MS (2005) Natural and human-mediated dispersal of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in the upper Susquehanna River basin of New York. Thesis, State University of New York College at Oneonta, 116 pp

  • Higgins SN, Vander Zanden MJ (2010) What a difference a species makes: a meta-analysis of dreissenid mussel impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Ecol Monogr 80:179–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horvath TG, Crane L (2010) Hydrodynamic forces affect larval zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) mortality in a laboratory setting. Aquat Invasions 5(4):379–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horvath TG, Lamberti GA (1999) Mortality of zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, veligers during downstream transport. Freshw Biol 42:69–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horvath TG, Lamberti GA, Lodge DM, Perry WL (1996) Zebra mussel dispersal in lake-stream systems: source-sink dynamics? J N Am Benthol Soc 15:564–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hosler DM (2011) Early detection of dreissenid species—zebra/quagga mussels in water systems. Aquat Invasions 6:217–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson LE (1995) Enhanced early detection and enumeration of zebra mussel (Dreissena spp.) veligers using cross-polarized light microscopy. Hydrobiologia 312:139–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson LE, Carlton JT (1996) Post-establishment spread in large-scale invasions: dispersal mechanisms of the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha. Ecology 77:1686–1690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson PTJ, Olden JD, Vander Zanden MJ (2008) Dam invaders: impoundments facilitate biological invasions into freshwaters. Front Ecol Environ 6:357–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kern R, Borcherding J, Neumann D (1994) Recruitment of a freshwater mussel with a planktonic life-stage in running waters-studies on Dreissena polymorpha in the Rhine River. Archiv für Hydrobiol 131:385–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirsch KM, Dzialowski AR (2012) Effects of invasive zebra mussels on phytoplankton, turbidity, and dissolved nutrients in reservoirs. Hydrobiologia 686:169–179

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kraft CE, Sullivan PJ, Karatayev AY, Burlakova LE, Nekola JC, Johnson LE, Padilla DK (2002) Landscape patterns of an aquatic invader: assessing dispersal extent from spatial distributions. Ecol Appl 12:749–759

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucy FE, Minchin D, Boelens R (2008) From lakes to rivers: downstream larval distribution of Dreissena polymorpha in Irish river basins. Aquat Invasions 3:297–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacIsaac HJ, Sprules WG, Leach JH (1991) Ingestion of small-bodied zooplankton by zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha): can cannibalism on larvae influence population dynamics? Can J Fish Aquat Sci 48:2051–2060

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackie GL, Claudi R (2009) Monitoring and control of macrofouling mollusks in fresh water systems, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Madon SP, Schneider DW, Stoeckel JA, Sparks RE (1998) Effects of inorganic sediment and food concentrations on energetic processes of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha: implications for growth in turbid rivers. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55:401–413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martel A, Hynes TM, Buckland-Nicks J (1995) Prodissoconch morphology, planktonic shell growth, and size at metamorphosis in Dreissena polymorpha. Can J Zool 73:1835–1844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMahon RF, Ussery TA (1995) Thermal tolerance of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) relative to rate of temperature increase and acclimation temperature. Technical Report EL-95-10. United States Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS

  • Muirhead JR, MacIsaac HJ (2005) Development of inland lakes as hubs in an invasion network. J Appl Ecol 42:80–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Natural Earth Data (2008) Lakes and reservoirs. http://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-physical-vectors/10m-lakes. Accessed 19 May 2016

  • Pimentel D, Zuniga R, Morrison D (2005) Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecol Econ 52:273–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randklev CR (2011) The ecology and paleobiogeography of freshwater mussels (Family: Unionidae) from selected river basins in Texas. Dissertation, University of North Texas, 120 pp

  • Rehmann CR, Stoeckel JA, Schneider DW (2003) Effect of turbulence on the mortality of zebra mussel veligers. Can J Zool 81:1063–1069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricciardi A (2003) Predicting the impacts of an introduced species from its invasion history: an empirical approach applied to zebra mussel invasions. Freshw Biol 48:972–981

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricciardi A, Neves RJ, Rasmussen JB (1998) Impending extinctions of North American freshwater mussels (Unionoida) following the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) invasion. J Anim Ecol 67:613–619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanz-Ronda JF, Lopez-Saenz S, San-Martin R, Palau-Ibars A (2014) Physical habitat of zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in the lower Ebro River (Northeastern Spain): influence of hydraulic parameters in their distribution. Hydrobiologia 735:137–147

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schaefer R, Claudi R, Grapperhaus M (2010) Control of zebra mussels using sparker pressure pulses. J Am Water Work Assoc 102:113–122

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider DW, Stoeckel JA, Rehmann CR, Blodgett KD, Sparks RE, Padilla DK (2003) A developmental bottleneck in dispersing larvae: implications for spatial population dynamics. Ecol Lett 6:352–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smirnova NF, Vinogradov GA (1990) Biology and ecology of Dreissena polymorpha from the European USSR. Presented at the workshop on introduced species in the Great Lakes: ecology and management, Saginaw, MI 26–28 Sept

  • Speirs DC, Gurney WS (2001) Population persistence in rivers and estuaries. Ecology 82:1219–1237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sprecher SL, Getsinger KD (2000) Zebra mussel chemical control guide. ERDC/EL TR-00-1, United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, 114 pp

  • Sprung M (1993) The other life: an account of present knowledge of the larval phase of Dreissena polymorpha. In: Nalepa TF, Schloesser DW (eds) Zebra mussels: biology, impacts, and control. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 39–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoeckel JA, Schneider DW, Soeken LA, Blodgett KD, Sparks RE (1997) Larval dynamics of a riverine metapopulation: implications for zebra mussel recruitment, dispersal, and control in a large-river system. J N Am Benthol Soc 16:586–601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoeckel JA, Rehmann CR, Schneider DW, Padilla DK (2004) Retention and supply of zebra mussel larvae in a large river system: importance of an upstream lake. Freshw Biol 49:919–930

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer DL (2009) Twenty years of zebra mussels: lessons from the mollusk that made headlines. Front Ecol Environ 7:135–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer DL, Malcom HM (2007) Effects of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) on native bivalves: the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? J N Am Benthol Soc 26:111–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer DL, Powell J, Ambrose P, Smith LC, Pace ML, Fischer DT (1996) Arrival, spread, and early dynamics of a zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) population in the Hudson River estuary. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 53:1143–1149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer DL, Cid N, Malcom HM (2011) Long-term changes in a population of an invasive bivalve and its effects. Oecologia 165:1063–1072

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (2009) Download TCEQ GIS data. https://www.tceq.texas.gov/gis/download-tceq-gis-data. Accessed 11 Jan 2016

  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (2009) Lone zebra mussel found in Lake Texoma. http://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/index.phtml?req=20090421a. Accessed 27 Feb 2015

  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (2012) Zebra mussels found in Lake Ray Roberts. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/index.phtml?req=20120718a. Accessed 3 Mar 2015

  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (2013) Zebra mussels documented in Lewisville Lake. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20130620b. Accessed 3 Mar 2015

  • Texas Water Development Board (2006) GIS data. http://www.twdb.texas.gov/mapping/gisdata.asp. Accessed 10 Aug 2015

  • Texas Water Development Board (2017) Texas lakes and reservoirs. https://www.twdb.texas.gov/surfacewater/rivers/reservoirs. Accessed 9 Mar 2017

  • United States Census Bureau (2014) TIGER/Line Shapefiles. https://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/geo/shapefiles/index.php. Accessed 19 May 2016

  • U.S. Geological Survey (2015) USGS water data for the Nation: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System database. https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN. Accessed 27 Feb 2015

  • U.S. Geological Survey (2016) The National Map viewer. https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer. Accessed 14 Jan 2016

  • Vanderploeg HA, Liebig JR, Gluck AA (1996) Evaluation of different phytoplankton for supporting development of zebra mussel larvae (Dreissena polymorpha): the importance of size and popolyunsaturated fatty acid content. J Great Lakes Res 22:36–45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wimbush J, Frischer ME, Zarzynski JW, Nierzwicki-Bauer SA (2009) Eradication of colonizing populations of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) by early detection and SCUBA removal: Lake George, NY. Aquat Conserv Mar Freshw Ecosyst 19:703–713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (2010) Biostatistical analysis, 5th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This paper describes results from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program for Texas that is cooperatively funded by Dallas Water Utilities and the USGS. The authors would like to thank Denis Qualls, Varghese Abraham, and Chang Lee (Dallas Water Utilities) and Glenn Clingenpeel (Trinity River Authority) for thoughtful discussions during study development. The authors would also like to thank anonymous reviewers who provided useful suggestions that improved this manuscript. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. USGS Texas Water Science Center, North Texas Program Office, 501 West Felix Street, BLDG 24, Fort Worth, TX, 76115, USA

    Christopher J. Churchill & Daniel P. Quigley

Authors
  1. Christopher J. Churchill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniel P. Quigley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher J. Churchill.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Churchill, C.J., Quigley, D.P. Downstream dispersal of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) under different flow conditions in a coupled lake-stream ecosystem. Biol Invasions 20, 1113–1127 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1613-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1613-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation