Monitoring federally listed mussels in the Little River watershed

The Little River is a major tributary of the Red River in southeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Oklahoma. The section of the watershed including Little River and Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) support one of only four extant populations of the federally endangered Ouachita rock pocketbook mussel (Arkansia wheeleri)(USFWS 2012b, 2013b) and one of only five extant populations of the winged mapleleaf mussel (Quadrula fragosa). This area also supports the recently listed rabbitsfoot (Quadrula cylindrica) (USFWS 2012a) and has been proposed as critical habitat for the rabbitsfoot. These imperiled mussels are part of a rich aquatic community inhabiting the river, which is regionally and nationally significant (Matthews et al. 2005). Protection and recovery of the Little River¿s imperiled mussel populations requires monitoring to assess their status and the effectiveness of ongoing habitat management. This project is needed to develop a landscape-level mussel monitoring program and protocol development to verify management effectiveness and identify specific management needs for the Little River and Pond Creek NWRs. To support this effort, the goals of this project are: (1) to assess the status of imperiled mussel species in the Little River from below Pine Creek Reservoir to the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line and (2) to establish a survey protocol for monitoring the status of mussel species in the river in the future (USFWS 2013a). Final products will include a final report assessing the status of the Little River mussel community and a peer-reviewed survey protocol consistent with the Inventory and Monitoring policy. This project has been coordinated with and benefits the USFWS, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, and the University of Oklahoma and will provide needed training to graduate students, as well as, refuge staff. USFWS staff will be substantially involved throughout the duration of this collaboration. USFWS will be actively involved in the conceptual development of this project, including identification of project objectives, selection of appropriate sampling design, data collection techniques, and analysis. USFWS staff will actively participate in data collection and oversight of data collection along with ensuring the protocol development is consistent with the Survey Protocol Handbook as per the National Inventory and Monitoring Policy. Finally, USFWS staff will review all results to determine suitability for use in guiding management activities.