{"accessLevel": "public", "bureauCode": ["010:12"], "contactPoint": {"@type": "vcard:Contact", "fn": "James H Larson", "hasEmail": "mailto:jhlarson@usgs.gov"}, "description": "Invasion of North American waters by Dreissena polymorpha and\nD. rostriformis bugensis has resulted in declines in native North\nAmerican Unionoida mussels.  Dreissenid mussels biofoul unionid\nmussels in large numbers and interfere with unionid movement,\nacquisition of food and ability to open and close their shells.\nInitial expectations for the Great Lakes were that unionids would be\nextirpated where they co-occur with dreissenids, but recently adult\nand juvenile unionids have been found alive in several apparent\nrefugia.  These unionid populations may persist due to reduced\ndreissenid biofouling in these areas, and/or due to processes that\nremove biofoulers.  For example, locations inaccessible to veligers\nmay reduce biofouling and habitats with soft substrates may allow\nunionids to burrow and thus remove dreissenids.  Here, biofouling was\nmeasured by deploying caged unionid mussels (Lampsilis siliquoidea) at\n36 sites across the western basin of Lake Erie to assess spatial\nvariation in biofouling and to identify other areas that might promote\nthe persistence or recovery of native unionid mussels.  Biofouling\nranged from 0.03 \u2013 26.33 g per mussel, reached a maximum in the\nimmediate vicinity of the Maumee rivermouth, and appeared to primarily\nconsist of dreissenid mussels.  A known mussel refugium in the\nvicinity of a power plant near the Maumee rivermouth actually\nexhibited very high biofouling rates, suggesting low dreissenid\ncolonization is unlikely to be the primary cause of unionid survival\nin this refugium.  The southern nearshore area of Lake Erie, near\nanother refugium, also had very low biofouling. A large stretch of the\nwestern basin appeared to have low biofouling rates and muddy\nsubstrates, raising the possibility that these open water areas could\nsupport remnant and returning populations of unionid mussels.", "distribution": [{"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.5066/F7V9864S", "description": "Landing page for access to the data", "format": "XML", "mediaType": "application/http", "title": "Digital Data"}, {"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "description": "The metadata original format", "downloadURL": "https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.55f02a2ee4b0dacf699ea024.xml", "format": "XML", "mediaType": "text/xml", "title": "Original Metadata"}], "identifier": "http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_55f02a2ee4b0dacf699ea024", "keyword": ["Ecological process monitoring", "Lake Erie", "Ohio", "USGS:55f02a2ee4b0dacf699ea024", "biofouling"], "modified": "2021-05-06T00:00:00Z", "publisher": {"@type": "org:Organization", "name": "U.S. Geological Survey"}, "theme": ["geospatial"], "title": "Spatial Variation in Biofouling of a Unionid Mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) Across the Western Basin of Lake Erie Data"}