The consequences of water release from a dam reservoirfor freshwater mussel survival: recommendations for improved management.

Abstract

Goląb M.J., Lipinska A.M., Cmiel A.M.: The consequences of water release from a dam reservoir for freshwater mussel survival: recommendations for improved management. ekologia (Bratislava), vol. 29, no. 4, p. 454–459, 2010. dam reservoirs may play an important role in threatened freshwater mussel conservation. However, the restoration works on a dam and their consequences can threaten whole mussel populations. This study investigates the consequences of water release in the Czorsztyn reservoir in order to improve management of dam reservoirs. The analysis shows that the reservoir’s water releases caused massive death of freshwater mussels. The main threat for mussel survival was probably flat slopes that disturbed both their ability to perceive slope gradient and the possibility to escape. in order to decrease the losses of freshwater mussel populations, it is necessary to remodel a part of the reservoir bowl’s shore and to create a refugium for the mussels. if terracing across the slopes is necessary, the steps should not be entirely plain, but tilted towards the water.