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Physical Sciences and Mathematics

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Louisiana State University

2017

Abundance

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Species Richness And Abundance Of Freshwater Mussels In Tributaries Of The Lower Pearl River Basin, Corinne Nicole Bird Jan 2017

Species Richness And Abundance Of Freshwater Mussels In Tributaries Of The Lower Pearl River Basin, Corinne Nicole Bird

LSU Master's Theses

Freshwater mussels play a vital role in their ecosystems, influencing processes such as nutrient cycling and water filtration. In addition, they provide and improve habitat for other organisms. North America is home to the most species-rich freshwater bivalve fauna in the world, but most stream systems in the U.S. have been severely degraded, and future freshwater mussel extinction rates are estimated at 6.4 percent per decade. The Pearl River Basin is a significant area of aquatic species diversity and has a complex watershed land use mosaic, providing an excellent opportunity to investigate the relative importance of local and landscape level …