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Journal Molluscan Studies Advance Access originally published online on December 19, 2005
Journal of Molluscan Studies 2006 72(2):179-188; doi:10.1093/mollus/eyi063
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Malacological Society of London, all rights reserved

POPULATION DYNAMICS OF ZEBRA MUSSELS DREISSENA POLYMORPHA (PALLAS, 1771) DURING THE INITIAL INVASION OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER, USA

W.G. COPE1, M.R. BARTSCH2 and J.E. HIGHTOWER3

1North Carolina State University, Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Box 7633, Raleigh, NC 27695-7633, USA; 2U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, WI 54603, USA; and 3U.S. Geological Survey, North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, Box 7617, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

Correspondence: W.G. Cope; e-mail: greg_cope{at}ncsu.edu

The aim of this study was to document and model the population dynamics of zebra mussels Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771) in Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), USA, for five consecutive years (1992–1996) following their initial discovery in September 1991. Artificial substrates (concrete blocks, 0.49 m2 surface area) were deployed on or around the first of May at two sites within each of two habitat types (main channel border and contiguous backwater). Blocks were removed monthly (30 ± 10 d) from the end of May to the end of October to obtain density and growth information. Some blocks deployed in May 1995 were retrieved in April 1996 to obtain information about over-winter growth and survival. The annual density of zebra mussels in Pool 8 of the UMR increased from 3.5/m2 in 1992 to 14,956/m2 in 1996. The average May–October growth rate of newly recruited individuals, based on a von Bertalanffy growth model fitted to monthly shell-length composition data, was 0.11 mm/d. Model estimates of the average survival rate varied from 21 to 100% per month. Estimated recruitment varied substantially among months, with highest levels occurring in September–October of 1994 and 1996, and in July of 1995. Recruitment and density in both habitat types increased by two orders of magnitude in 1996. Follow-up studies will be necessary to assess the long-term stability of zebra mussel populations in the UMR; this study provides the critical baseline information needed for those future comparisons.

(Received 5 November 2004; accepted 30 September 2005)


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