Strayer, D.L., J. Powell, P. Ambrose, et al., 1996. Arrival, Spread, and Early Dynamics of a Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) population in the Hudson River Estuary, Institute of Ecosystem Studies

Reprinted from Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (1996) 53: 1143-1149

Arrival, Spread, and Early Dynamics of a Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) population in the Hudson River Estuary

Abstract:
The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) population of the Hudson River estuary grew and spread rapidly following its first detection in May 1991. The population reached 550 billion animals (4000/m ², mean over the freshwater tidal river) by the end of 1992, constituting >70% of zoobenthic biomass, and filtered a volume equivalent to the entire water column in 1 day. Over 95% of the population lived on subtidal rocks. Following the period of rapid population growth in 1991-1992, reproductive success (young of the year per adult) fell by four orders of magnitude in 1993-1994. Furthermore, at the end of the 1993-1994 growing seasons, young of the year were only 20-30% as large as in 1991. Adult zebra mussels may have been outcompeting the larvae for food. We propose that such food-limited zebra mussel populations may be especially frequent in rivers and estuaries, where the ratio of food supply to available substratum is small.

Entire Paper
Contact: D.L. Strayer, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, P.O. Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545 e-mail: dlstrayer@aol.com
Keywords: Zebra_mussel, Ecological_Interaction, Population_dynamics
Product Type: Research, Predicting_the_spread
User Type: General