BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) - A member of the mollusk family once abundant is now federally threatened in the Midwest, and members of the Homestead National Monument of America are doing their part to help by surveying the species for possible reintroduction in Cub Creek.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Midwest had some of the highest numbers of mussel species nationally. But currently in states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, more than half of the 78 known species are classified as federally endangered, threatened or a state species of special concern.
Last year, the Nature Conservancy reports that about 70% of mussels in North America are extinct or imperiled, compared to 16.5% of mammalian species and 14.6% of bird species.
The presence of mussels in moving water can indicate a healthy aquatic system, which mussels also help purify, as well as contributing to the pearl industry, and, of course, mussels are a source of food for various animals.
Recently, Homestead employees spent a few days wading through Cub Creek to measure and photograph the number and species of mussels already there, which determines whether other species could thrive there.
Jesse Bolli, Homestead’s Natural Resource Management Specialist, told the Beatrice Daily Sun that 311 live mussels were found in nearly a mile of the creek. The majority of live mussels pimpleback and mapleleaf species, with a single live pink papershell and a single live fragile papershell also encountered. Other shells found included the giant floater, white heelsplitter and fingernail clams.
“We’ve found a lot of mussels in the creek, so we now know that it is probably healthy enough,” Bolli said. “We didn’t want to put them in a creek where we knew they had zero chance of survival…We did not expect to find as many mussels as we did.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report that mussels are endangered for several reasons. Mussels are not able to survive in still waters like lakes, so dams that block river flow have threatened their habitat. Sedimentation and pollution smother their river bed habitat. There’s also exotic species like zebra mussels, which attach to almost any hard surface including native mussels. Zebra mussels reproduce so quickly and abundantly that the native mussels’ movement, feeding and reproductive behaviors are stifled.
The report states that the implementation of the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act have contributed to the recovery of some species.
Through partnering with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Bolli said Homestead plans to reintroduce fatmucket and plain pocketbook mussels. He said this could happen as soon as next week, once the creek levels return to normal after last weekend’s rain.
“We’ve had it in the plans to do this survey for several years,” Bolli said. “I was planning and hoping to bring in some experts to assist with the survey, but the last two years we got flooded out, and then this year because of COVID-19 it got nixed as well.”
Instead, the survey was largely done by four local students who are working at Homestead this summer as part of their Youth Conservation Corps: Zach Van Brocklin, Ella Crawford, Hannah Holtmeier and Brandon Moore.
Van Brocklin said he was expecting to participate in some type of conservation while in the YCC, but that he did not expect to survey mussels, admitting he’d previously never seen the animal in person before.
“It’s weird to think that I’ve walked through so many creeks, and I’ve probably stepped over hundreds of them and never realized it…I’ve done a few other things to help the environment, but this is definitely the biggest thing I’ve ever done. It’s cool, and I’d definitely do it again for another species.”
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