Date of Award:

5-2026

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Belize Lane

Committee

Belize Lane

Committee

Brian Crookston

Committee

Colin Phillips

Committee

Kyle Moor

Committee

David Smith

Abstract

Freshwater mussels are an important group of aquatic animals that live within the riverbed, but their populations have been drastically reduced by habitat alteration and other anthropogenic activities. In an effort to bolster populations, river managers and biologists are using mussel reintroductions as part of their restoration efforts but there are gaps in our understanding of where to reintroduce mussels within a river to see them create self-sustaining populations. This research helps shrink this gap by better understanding the physical habitat needs and population expansion potential of subadult freshwater mussels, or the size of mussel that hatcheries grow for reintroduction, through flume, field and modeling studies with a focus on a restored, urban river reach in south central Texas. Results from these studies have shown the need for increased protections for subadult freshwater mussels compared to adult mussels during high shear stress events, that boulder fields and protective geomorphic elements such as bars and islands help keep mussels in their preferred habitat and that mussel host fish are impacted by barriers in fragmented systems, which may directly impact the ability of mussels to recolonize these river corridors. Overall, this work provides managers with foundational knowledge on the habitat needs of subadult mussels in terms of hydraulic, sediment and geomorphic parameters, and provides an adaptable framework for understanding how host fish movement around barriers impacts the ability for mussels to recolonize rivers.

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