Freshwater Mussel Research and Restoration Project proposal 200203700

FY07-09 proposal 200203700

Section 1. Administrative

Proposal title	Freshwater Mussel Research and Restoration Project
Proposal ID	200203700
Organization	Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Short description	The purpose of this study is to provide information essential for restoration of freshwater mussels in the Umatilla River. Mussel restoration complements the Tribe’s efforts to rebuild ecosystem diversity, and traditional and cultural opportunities.
Information transfer	The overall goal of this research is to provide essential information for designing a recovery plan for freshwater mussels in the Umatilla River and other mid-Columbia River watersheds where mussels may be declining or extinct. The proposed project will provide information that will be useful for restoration efforts elsewhere in the Columbia River Basin.
Proposal contact person or principal investigator

Contacts

Contact	Organization	Email
Form submitter
Jeanette Howard	Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reserva	[email protected]
All assigned contacts
Jeanette Howard	Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reserva	[email protected]

Section 2. Locations

Province / subbasin: Columbia Plateau / Umatilla

Latitude	Longitude	Waterbody	Description
		[none]	Experiments examining physiological rate functions of mussels will be conducted on mussels collected from the Middle and North Fork John Day rivers.
		Walla Walla River	We will conduct physiologial rate function experiments on mussels collected from the Walla Walla River.
			The Umatilla River is the target for freshwater mussel restoration activities.
		Umatilla River	Proposed target river for restoration activities is the Umatilla River, however, experiments will be conducted with mussels from the Middle Fork John Day and Walla Walla rivers. In addition, mussels will be collected in various other subbasins to assess genetic diversity within the Columbia Basin.

Section 3. Focal species

primary: Other Resident
Additional: Freshwater mussels: Margaritifera falcata (the western pearl shell); Anodonta spp. (floaters); Gonidea angulata (western ridge mussel)

Section 4. Past accomplishments

Year	Accomplishments
2005	1. Quantitatively assessed the functional role of freshwater mussels in the region. 2. Assessed patterns of genetic diversityin freshwater mussels in the region. 3. Investigated host fish requirements and reproductive timing of mussels.
2004	1. Quantitatively assessed mussel densities and macro- and microhabitat variables in selective mussel beds in the Umatilla and Middle Fork John Day rivers. 2. Conduct research at national natural history museums to obtain historic records.
2003	1. Assessed the current distribution and status of freshwater mussels in the Umatilla and Middle Fork John Day Rivers. 2. Determineed historical distribution of freshwater mussels in the Umatilla and John Day River drainages. 3. Reported results.

Section 5. Relationships to other projects

Funding source	Related ID	Related title	Relationship
BPA	199000501	Umatilla Basin Nat Prod M&E	CTUIR staff from the Freshwater Mussel project work closely with CTUIR staff of the Umatilla Basin Natural Production project in terms of sharing equipment, data, ideas.
BPA	199402600	Pacific Lamprey Population Sta	Project leader of Lamprey Project, Dr. Jeanette Howard, is the project leader of the Freshwater Mussel Project, therefore many supplies, equipment, data, staff are shared between the two projects.
BPA	200003900	Walla Walla River Basin Monito	We have worked with CTUIR staff of the Walla Walla River project to survey for mussels in the Basin.

Section 6. Biological objectives

Biological objectives	Full description	Associated subbasin plan	Strategy
Collaboration and Communication	Maximize effectiveness of Umatilla Subbasin RM&E projects with collaborative study planning and implementation, synthesis of results, and results dissemination.	Umatilla	The project maximizes the effectiveness of Umatilla Subbasin RM&E projects by collaborating with other Umatilla River studies and projects, as well as in other subbasins, through planning and implementation, synthesis of results, and disseminating results
Natural Production	Maintain and enhance natural production, productivity, abundance, life history characteristics and genetic diversity of fish and mussels throughout the Umatilla Basin using habitat protection and improvement.	Umatilla	The project seeks to maintain and enhance natural production, productivity, and abundance throughout in the Umatilla Basin through life history studies and an analysis of life history requirements, including host fishes. In addition, the natural producti
Population and Environmental Status	Monitor the status and trends of fish and mussel populations, their habitats and ecosystems throughout the Umatilla Basin.	Umatilla	The project monitors the status and trends of freshwater mussels in the Umatilla Basin.

Section 7. Work elements (coming back to this)

Work element name	Work element title	Description	Start date	End date	Est budget
Produce Environmental Compliance Documentation	Provide Environmental Compliance documentation for lamprey project (CTUIR)	We will provide BPA Environmental Compliance Group with information necessary to support a categorical exclusion for all project activities. Submit FY07-09 SOW and supporting documents as needed for BPA's Environmental Compliance Group to determine environmental compliance status.	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$3,000
Biological objectives			Metrics
Coordination	Coordinate outreach efforts	We will coordinate with parties interested in freshwater mussel work in the western United States including departments within CTUIR, other Tribes, government agencies, professional groups and members of the general public.	10/1/2006	12/31/2009	$15,000
Biological objectives Collaboration and Communication			Metrics
Manage and Administer Projects	Project Management for mussel project (CTUIR)	Manage and administer all components of the Freshwater Mussel project.	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$75,000
Biological objectives Collaboration and Communication			Metrics
Outreach and Education	Educate and inform the public about the freshwater mussel Project	The purpose of this work is to educate the Tribal community, the public at large and the scientific community about the Freshwater Mussel. We will present findings at professional meetings, at various local schools and in public forums.	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$20,000
Biological objectives Collaboration and Communication			Metrics
Produce Plan	Develop a recovery plan for freshwater mussels in the Umatilla River [CTUIR]	Based on findings from laboratory and field experiments, we will develop a recovery plan for freshwater mussels in the Umatilla River. This plan will have implications for other Columbia River subbasins.	10/1/2008	12/31/2009	$10,000
Biological objectives			Metrics
Produce Annual Report	Produce annual report for Freshwater Mussel Project (CTUIR)	Draft and final annual reports all years will be submitted to BPA. A completed annual report will include results of our work element milestones.	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$30,000
Biological objectives Collaboration and Communication			Metrics
Produce/Submit Scientific Findings Report	Publish results of Freshwater Mussel Project studies (CTUIR)	We will submit our findings from our various work elements to peer reviewed journals for publication. We expect to publish the results of our research as 1-3 papers in peer-reviewed, scientific journals. We have identified the following possible journals: Northwest Scientist, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, and/or the North American Journal of Fisheries	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$22,000
Biological objectives			Metrics
Analyze/Interpret Data	Analyze genetic sequence data	Genetic sequence data will be analyzed using a variety of currently accepted phylogenetic reconstruction approaches (maximum parsimony, Bayesian and distance-based approaches), and emerging patterns will be interpreted with respect to geologic histories, phylogeographic patterns in other aquatic species (particularly salmonids), current taxonomic boundaries, and variance in morphological characters.	9/1/2007	12/31/2007	$7,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Analyze/Interpret Data	Analyze results of physiological rate functions for freshwater mussels	Model relationships between mussel physiological demands and water conditions at selected sites in the Umatilla River where mussels may be reintroduced will be established. Physiological and water quality data collected in under various work elements will be used to deduce whether the physiological and nutritional demands of mussels can be met by ambient seston and water quality conditions in reaches of the Umatilla River where mussels have been extirpated. These data will also enable assessment of the potential ecological benefits that the restoration of mussel population biomass may have for a particular river reach, and will potentially guide resource managers on the number of mussels that will be needed in order to enhance water quality and ecosystem function.	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$5,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Analyze/Interpret Data	Assess the composition of suspended matter (i.e., seston) in the subbasins	We will assess the composition of suspended matter (i.e., seston) used in laboratory trials. Our physiological trials will use food (i.e., seston or particulate matter) that is collected from natural river water at mussel collection sites. In general seston quality and quantity, as well as composition, will vary seasonally and with local environmental conditions. In this task we will characterize the seston that is delivered during each trial to better understand whether and how natural diets satisfy the changing nutritional demands of the mussels used in each trial, as their nutrient needs and demands will also vary temporally and perhaps, spatially. This information is also essential for assessing ecological function, by enabling mass balance calculations of how much suspended matter gets processed by mussels under different natural conditions and in different seasons. Specifically, a sub-set of water collected for the physiology trials will be used to assess seston quality and quantity. Seston samples will be analyzed for the concentration of particulate material, particulate organic material, particle concentrations and size distributions. A portion of these samples will also be preserved for possible future analyses of the concentration of chlorophyll-a, concentration of crude fiber, proximate biochemical composition and/or stable isotope ratios (not performed as a part of this study). All seston methods will follow those described by Kreeger et al. (1997).	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$35,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Analyze/Interpret Data	Determine the host fish requirements for all three freshwater mussel species	Data collected from both laboratory and field experiments will be used to characterize host fish requirements for the three genera of mussels found in mid-Columbia drainages, and historically in the Umatilla River system. If glochidia morphologies between genera and Anodonta are distinct, the detailed photographs of these morphological differences can be used to guide resource managers, including hatchery managers, on mussel/host fish relationships.	10/1/2008	12/31/2009	$7,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Analyze/Interpret Data	Document growth, condition, and survival of mussels introduced into the Umatilla River. (CTUIR)	We will monitoring the condition of translocated mussels over the course of the three-year study period. A subset of mussels (~10 per time period, sampled across enclosures) will be harvested at approximately 3 month intervals following deployment to monitor physiological status and trends. Physiological metrics of mussel health at each site will be assessed by investigating tissue composition indices that relate directly to their condition, including ratio of shell height to dry tissue weight, stoichiometric composition, and the proximate biochemical composition of protein, lipid and carbohydrate (Kreeger et al. 2002). The log-likelihood ratio statistic will be used to test whether growth, condition, and survival varied significantly between treatments. This statistical method of inquiry is well suited to relocation studies because hypothesis testing is possible even when sample sizes are small, and thus fewer animals are required for testing. For example, treatment effects (i.e., the effects of being relocated into a combination of habitat types) can be examined through the use of randomization tests, which can approximate the sampling distribution of the log-likelihood ratio when replicate (i.e., individual enclosures) sample sizes are small.	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$75,000
Biological objectives Natural Production			Metrics
Analyze/Interpret Data	Genetic analysis of mussel populations.	Using the microsatellite markers developed, we will genotype the freshwater mussel individuals collected throughout the Columbia River Basin. These microsatellite data sets will be used to assess genetic diversity, random mating patterns, inbreeding, genetic bottlenecks, and the signature of recent range expansions in the sampled populations, using standard population genetic software (GenePop, Tools for Population Genetic Analysis, Mantel testing, Bottleneck, Fstat, Dispan, Arlequin, Structure, and GeneClass). Additionally, these data will be used to describe phylogeographic patterns of divergence and gene flow for each of the genera in the Columbia River basin, using mitochondrial sequence data (from Objective 1a and previous CTUIR work) to infer a temporal framework for divergence patterns.	9/1/2008	9/1/2009	$31,186
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Assess glochidia morphology in Anodonta lineages	Given the taxonomic uncertainty in the Anodonta complex, glochidial morphology may be a useful character in distinguishing lineages. Glochidial descriptions have previously been used to help identify mussel species, even when the adult morphology is highly variable (Hoggarth 1999, O’Brien et al. 2003). Fully-developed glochidia will be collected from the mussels in Task 2.a. and preserved in 70% ethanol. Several hundred glochidia will be prepared and mounted for examination, and will be photographed using a scanning electron microscope. SEM photos will be taken of the valve, flange region, hinge ligaments, and shell sculpturing sensu O’Brien et al. (2003). Glochidial measurements (length, height) will be taken with an ocular micrometer using a stereo-microscope. This data will used to determine if there are taxonomically useful characters that can complement genetic and adult conchological data in defining the two distinct lineages of Anodonta.	1/15/2008	1/15/2009	$20,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Assess the survivability of the western pearlshell, Margaritifera falcata, in the Umatilla River through translocation experiments.	The Umatilla Subbasin Summary is unique in that it specifically calls for strategies that will enhance the potential to restore freshwater shellfish into the Umatilla River system. The western pearlshell, Margaritifera falcata, once found in the river but now extirpated, is one of the species targeted by the CTUIR for possible reintroduction. The long-term survival of relocated mussels can be poor, however, if destination sites are chosen based on descriptive or observational criteria (Cope and Waller 1995). Unfortunately past relocation efforts in other parts of the nation have been hampered by a lack of information on the habitat requirements of individual mussels species, although knowledge of these requirements have been found to increase the success of relocation efforts (Hamilton et al. 1997). These types of habitat requirement data are, however, available for the western pearlshell, and were collected as part of the Freshwater Mussel Research and Restoration Project (see section E above). These data, collected at three habitat scales from the Middle Fork John Day River, provide an opportunity to test the notion that species-specific site selection criteria, developed using quantitative information, can enhance the survival of relocated mussels (Hamilton et al. 1997). The objective of this study is to test the assertion that quantitative information on the habitat requirements of freshwater mussels can have a direct influence on the survival and successful relocation of freshwater mussels into the Umatilla River system. To this end, we will test the importance of habitat, at three spatial scales, in the relocation success of the western pearlshell, Margaritifera falcata, by evaluating the growth, condition, and survival of pearlshells relocated into the Umatilla River. This project is intended as a pilot study that could be used to guide future reintroduction efforts.	10/1/2007	12/31/2007	$50,000
Biological objectives Natural Production			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Collect glochidia for laboratory experiment	To determine the host fish requirements for all three freshwater mussel species, specimens representing the three genera will be collected from the Middle Fork John Day River and from the mouth of the Umatilla River, starting in early spring, before viable glochidia are likely to be found, to late summer, when reproduction has likely ceased. The collected mussels will be non-lethally inspected for the presence of glochidia in the gill chambers. When gravid females (i.e., carrying glochidia) are found, they will be collected, transported, evaluated for viability, and held in holding tanks, using standard procedures. Mussels will be returned to collection sites once glochidia are collected.	4/1/2007	9/1/2007	$7,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Collect tissue samples for genetic analyses of freshwater mussels from Columbia Basin drainages	The purpose of this data collection is to provide tissue samples to Dr. Karen Mock, a geneticist at Utah State Univeristy who is assessing the patterns of genetic diversity and divergence of freshwater mussels in the Columbia Basin. Whole specimens (5 - 10 per population) of Anodonta and Gonidea will be collected from an estimated 15 additional populations in Columbia River tributaries and throughout western North America, focusing on type localities and major hydrogeographic units that might harbor divergent lineages. Digital photographs of these specimens will be taken at various standardized angles, including a size scale, to enable communication among researchers and managers and performance of future morphometric work which may be necessary for taxonomic revision. Samples will be collected following protocols developed in Project 25093, and preserved in 95% ethanol.	6/1/2007	9/30/2007	$40,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Collect water samples for analyses	Water samples will be collected throughout the year to understand the quality and quantity of food available for mussels.	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$23,683
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Conduct field surveys to determine host fish requirements	To determine which fish species are potentially hosts via natural infections, juvenile fish representing native and non-native fish species present in mid-Columbia drainages will be collected from several sites where freshwater mussels are known to be abundant. These sites will be in either the Middle Fork John Day, the North Fork John Day or Walla Walla rivers. Fish collections will be made from late spring through late summer. We expect, based on our prior studies and standard protocols, that at least 100 fish will be collected (excluding protected salmonids). Fish will be relaxed using MS-22 and preserved in 95% ethanol for dissection and microscopic inspection. Each fish collected in the field will be	4/1/2007	9/1/2007	$25,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Develop microsatellite markers.	Microsatellite markers will be developed for Margaritifera, Gonidea, and both lineages of Anodonta. Microsatellite development requires DNA isolation from a small number of individuals, fragmentation of the genomic DNA, enrichment for microsatellite-like motifs, cloning the selected fragments, sequencing these fragments, screening the sequences for useful microsatellite repeats, designing primers to amplify these repeats reliably in individual mussels, and selection of primer sets that amplify reliably and yield multiple allele sizes in populations. The USU Molecular Ecology lab has successfully developed and optimized microsatellite markers in a variety of other species. Microsatellite development in Margaritifera, Gonidea, and both lineages of Anodonta will require separate efforts because microsatellite markers rarely work well across deep taxonomic boundaries. We estimate that a panel of 9-12 microsatellite loci will be successfully developed in each lineage.	9/1/2007	9/1/2009	$206,100
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Infection of potential fish hosts with glochidia	Fish species that will be tested for their suitability as hosts will include species that are native to the Columbia Basin (e.g., salmonid species) as well as species that are non-native to the Columbia Basin (e.g., small mouth bass) but are found in the Umatilla River and other subbasins. Fish species that may be state or federally protected will be handled and collected as per guidelines established within applicable State and Federal permits. Fish can develop a natural immunity to glochidia as a result of previous infections; therefore all fish used in our laboratory experiments will either be purchased from fish hatcheries, or will be collected from streams with few or no freshwater mussels. As an added precaution, collected fish will be held for two weeks to allow any previously attached glochidia to excyst. A minimal amount of variation in fish size classes will be used in order to test fish from the same age groups, preferable juveniles. Fish will be artificially exposed to glochidia using standard procedures (e.g., O’Brien and Williams 2002). Infected fish will be held in individual tanks until either glochidia excyst, or no encysted glochidia are found during weekly inspections. The bottom of each holding tank will be siphoned regularly after the fish are exposed to glochidia. It is important to distinguish metamorphosed juvenile mussels from glochidia that may initially attach to a non-host fish, but later slough off or do not metamorphose. Therefore, metamorphosed juveniles will be identified, under a microscope, by the presence of gill buds and a ciliated foot (Karna and Millemann 1978).	4/1/2007	9/1/2007	$10,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Quantify mussel physiological function rates in the three genera of mussels found in Columbia Basin	We propose to quantify the rate in which mussels consume suspended particulate matter, as well as the fate of the material consumed. Further, we propose to determine how these rates are influenced by natural variation in temperature and seston quantity and quality. These experiments will be stratified by mussel size (a surrogate for age), species (Margaritifera, Gonidea, and both lineages of Anodonta). Mussels will be collected from reference study populations two times each year, cleaned, and held in natural river water (to mimic natural food sources) at ambient field temperatures. The physiological processes (and their rates) that will be tested include particle clearance and respiration. In addition, the fate and assimilation rates of ingested particles will be determined by measuring seston quantity and quality, excreted dissolved nutrients, and biodeposits of feces and pseudofeces. These processes will be measured using standard laboratory methods described in Kreeger and Langdon (1993), and Coughlan (1969). Dry tissue weights will be obtained at the end of all trials in order to standardization rate functions to body mass (Kreeger and Newell 2001).	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$157,368
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data	Sequence mitochondrial DNA	Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences will be obtained from Columbia basin mussel tissue samples using established techniques (Mock et al. 2004a), and this data will be incorporated into the existing genetic dataset for western mussels.	9/1/2007	12/31/2007	$46,645
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Develop RM&E Methods and Designs	Design sampling strategy-assess patterns of genetic diversity in freshwater mussels (Columbia Basin)	A large collection of genetic samples from western US Anodonta and Gonidea has been initiated as a result of previous work. We propose to augment this sample collection by including samples from type specimen localities, and increasing the number of populations representing major Columbia tributaries and other major western drainage systems. The scope of this work is to design a sampling strategy to collect mussels from drainages within the Columbia Basin to assess genetic diversity. We will design a sampling strategy based on the maximum chance of encountering freshwater mussels within tributaries and the mainstem of various mid-Columbia rivers. This will be based on knowledge of suitable habitats (i.e. stream size, gradient, elevation) generated from GIS databases.	10/1/2007	6/30/2008	$10,000
Biological objectives Population and Environmental Status			Metrics
Disseminate Raw/Summary Data and Results	Disseminate findings of genetic analysis of mussel populations	Results from our genetic analyses will be presented at scientific meetings, to tribal members and regional managers, and published in peer-reviewed journals and in a final report to the granting agency.	10/1/2007	12/31/2009	$5,000
Biological objectives			Metrics
Disseminate Raw/Summary Data and Results	Disseminate findings of physiological rate function experiments	Results from quantification of mussel physiology experiments will be presented at scientific meetings, to tribal members and regional managers, and published in peer-reviewed journals and in a final report to the granting agency.	10/1/2008	12/31/2009	$5,000
Biological objectives			Metrics

Section 8. Budgets

Itemized estimated budget

Item	Note	FY07	FY08	FY09
Personnel	Utah State University personnel	$6,460	$25,839	$27,165
Fringe Benefits	Utah State University fringe	$5,285	$21,141	$22,225
Supplies	Utah State University supplies	$27,900	$8,000	$24,000
Overhead	Utah State University 40% overhead	$15,858	$21,992	$29,356
Personnel	Academy of Natural Sciences	$35,361	$35,932	$36,870
Fringe Benefits	Academy of Natural Sciences	$3,171	$3,149	$3,210
Travel	Academy of Natural Sciences	$9,822	$9,918	$9,918
Supplies	Academy of Natural Sciences	$7,675	$7,700	$6,075
Overhead	Academy of Natural Sciences Indirect	$14,002	$14,059	$13,667
Personnel	CTUIR personnel	$88,173	$77,000	$94,345
Fringe Benefits	CTUIR	$14,516	$13,847	$15,858
Travel	CTUIR (airfare, vehicle, per diem)	$15,556	$10,210	$15,560
Supplies	CTUIR supplies	$5,500	$5,500	$5,500
Overhead	CTUIR overhead (37%)	$45,674	$39,426	$48,567
Totals		$294,953	$293,713	$352,316

Total estimated FY 2007-2009 budgets

Total itemized budget:	$940,982
Total work element budget:	$940,982

Cost sharing

Funding source/org	Item or service provided	FY 07 est value ($)	FY 08 est value ($)	FY 09 est value ($)	Cash or in-kind?	Status
Totals		$0	$0	$0

Section 9. Project future

FY 2010 estimated budget: $0
FY 2011 estimated budget: $0

Comments:

Future O&M costs:

Termination date:
Comments:

Final deliverables:

Section 10. Narrative and other documents

Reviews and recommendations

FY07 budget	FY08 budget	FY09 budget	Total budget	Type	Category	Recommendation
NPCC FINAL FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS (Oct 23, 2006) [full Council recs]
$0	$0	$0	$0	Expense	ProvinceExpense	Do Not Fund
NPCC DRAFT FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS (Sep 15, 2006) [full Council recs]
$0	$0	$0	$0		ProvinceExpense
Comments: Also reviewed by the MSRT.
NPCC DRAFT FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS (Sep 15, 2006) [full Council recs]
$0	$0	$0	$0		Basinwide

ISRP PRELIMINARY REVIEW (Jun 2, 2006)

Recommendation: Fundable (Qualified)

NPCC comments: This proposal gives a nice background presentation including data collected (including maps) in previous years. This proposal has an exemplary section on past results and reporting of data. It is surprising that more taxonomic work has not been done on these organisms so the genetic analyses in the proposal are well justified, particularly if Anodonta turns out to be a species complex with multiple habitat and fish host requirements. One point that the background section could have made more clear was why so few mussels exist in the Umatilla River relative to the John Day River since both rivers have a long history of anthropogenic disturbance (e.g., mining grazing and logging), and intuitively they should have similar mussel faunas. Some of these mussels are very long-lived, e.g., 50 years, and the shells can be used like tree-rings to track environmental changes. This fundable recommendation is qualified because better documentation is needed that the sample size is adequate. Have they done a power analysis to show that their sample size is adequate? It is of interest to note that in some areas around Seattle, mussels are used to monitor habitat restoration project effectiveness. It would also be useful to know if other mussel translocation efforts have been attempted in the Columbia River Basin, and if so, how well they have succeeded.

ISRP FINAL REVIEW (Aug 31, 2006)

Recommendation: Fundable (Qualified)