If You Want to Build Up Your Biology, You Should Lift with Your Mussels!
Erik Neidy
Urban Stream Research Center, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
Wheaton, IL
Authors: Erik Neidy, Jessi DeMartini, Jim Intihar, and Joe Limpers, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Wheaton, IL
Seeds are dispersed by the wind and wildlife, fish swim freely if there are no barriers, macro-invertebrates hatch and fly or emerge and float, even rocks and boulders get moved by physics or placed by hydraulic thumbs. Where’s the love for the freshwater mussels? “Biology Function: Level 5 functions of the Stream Functions Pyramid that involve the biodiversity and the life histories of aquatic and riparian organisms. These functions are placed at the top of the Pyramid because they are affected by all underlying levels.” We as ecologists, engineers, and geomorphologists spend millions on constructing and restoring our rivers and streams only to cross our fingers in hopes of achieving regulatory sign off in roughly 5 years. We try to do in one growing season what took erosion or glaciers, centuries. The Urban Stream Research Center (USRC) serves as the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s facility for aquatic conservation programs and is the only facility of its kind in Illinois. Located along the West Branch DuPage River in Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville, the building opened in 2012 and was funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The center’s main purpose is to augment common native freshwater mussels that were historically more abundant and diverse within the Des Plaines River Basin.
Native freshwater mussels, which are the most imperiled and vulnerable species in the country, are propagated, reared and released into known historical watersheds, where they are then monitored. Since 2016 the USRC has successfully propagated 6 species of mussels such as, among others, the Plain Pocketbook (Lampsilis cardium), White Heelsplitter (Lasmigona complanata), and Fat Mucket (Lampsilis siliquoidea). Resulting in the release of over 25,000 sub-adult mussels back into restored reaches of local streams.
The USRC also serves as a field research station, partnering with local conservation groups, universities and other institutions on collaborative and applied research in aquatic conservation that seeks solutions to problems facing urban rivers and streams. The USRC is working to create large scale partnerships to aid such solutions across the United States.
About Erik Neidy
Erik Neidy, Director of Natural Resources, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
Bachelors of Science – Zoology, Western Illinois University
Maters of Science – Restoration Ecology, Governors State University
Erik began working for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County in 2001. During the last 19 years his focus has been aimed at Native ecosystem restoration, enhancement, creation, and management. The primary focus has been on roughly 12,000 of 26,000 acres of open space in DuPage County. Restoration of wetland, woodland, prairie, and stream/aquatic habitats aimed at maximizing biodiversity and increasing wildlife utilization across all habitats. Since 2005, Erik and his staff have been working to restore nearly 20 miles of urban rivers and streams.