ASU, Environmental Sciences host 5th  biennial symposium, workshop

April 5, 2007 -- Arkansas State University and the Environmental Sciences Program were the hosts for the 5^th Biennial Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society Symposium and Habitat Restoration Workshop held at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock, Sunday-Friday, March 11-16. ASU Department of Biological Sciences assistant professor Alan D. Christian and adjunct professor John L. Harris were the chair and assistant chair, respectively, of the symposium and workshop. Approximately 275 academic, state and federal agency, non-government organization, and industry personnel attended the conference. There were ten workshop presentations, nine plenary session presentations, 51 poster presentations, and 80 platform presentations.

A total of 16 presentations were given by ASU Biological Sciences and Environmental Sciences faculty (Alan D. Christian, Jerry L. Farris, Jeannette M. Loutsch), and Biological Sciences and Environmental Sciences graduate students (Allison M. Asher, Sara E. Seagraves, David M. Hayes, Nathan Wentz, Andrew J. Peck, Ryan M. Allen, Mickey W. Matthews, Holly C. Martin, and Raven L. Lawson) and Biological Sciences undergraduate students (Kentaro Inoue, David Baldridge, and Tracy A. Bianco).  Two invited presentations were “Ecohydrolics and freshwater mussel aggregate locations in large river systems: empirical evidence of the refugia concept and promising research areas” by A.J. Peck, J.L. Harris and A.D. Christian during the Habitat Restoration Workshop and “Freshwater mussel ecosystem ecology: The integrated functional roles of water quality, pollution, and physical habitat in supporting adult and early life stages of freshwater mussels and their role in nutrient recycling” by W. G. Cope, A.D. Christian, R.B. Bringolf, N. Wang, T.J. Newton, J.L. Farris, T. Augspurger, F.J. Dwyer, M.C. Barnhart, R. J. Neves, E. Hammer, and C.G. Ingersoll. 

Seven poster presentations included “Conservation of the Ouachita Creekshell, Villosa arkansasensis (Lea 1853): reproduction and host fish suitability” by S.E. Seagraves, J.L. Farris, J.L. Harris and A.D. Christian, “Freshwater Snails of the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas” by D.M. Hayes and A.D. Christian, “Land use and freshwater mussel assemblage changes in the lower White River, Arkansas: 1930 to 2002” by K. Inoue, J.L. Harris, and A.D. Christian, “Assessment of a potential Potamilus capax (Green 1832) refuge: the use of biotic and habitat indices as indicator of freshwater mussel habitat in the Tyronza River, Arkansas” by N. Wentz, A. Peck, J. Harris, and A.D. Christian, “Freshwater mussel Habitat variability and movement patterns following relocation: a case study of Potamilus capax (Green 1832)” by D. Baldridge, A.J. Peck, and A.D. Christian, “The use of protein concentration as a potential indicator of freshwater mussel (Mollusca: Bivalvia) fitness” by T.A. Bianco, A.J. Peck, J.M. Loutsch, and A.D. Christian, and “The use of relative glycogen concentrations to assess fitness in freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia)” by R.M. Allen, A.D. Peck, J.M. Loutsch, J.L. Farris, and A.D. Christian.

Seven platform presentations included: “Molecular phylogenetics of Elimia potosiensis (Caenogstropoda: Pleuroceridae) from the interior highlands” by D. M Hayes and R.L. Minton, “The use of micro-satellite analysis to determine paternity in freshwater mussels” by A.M. Asher, E. Monroe, J.M. Loutsch, D. J. Berg and A.D. Christian, “The role of distinctive freshwater bivalve communities and the exotic Asian clam in nutrient recycling along the continuum of an Ozark river” by M.W. Matthews and A.D. Christian, “Condition assessment of relic valves as estimators of time since mortality in unionid bivalves” by E.A. Ashcraft and J.L. Farris, “Assessment of freshwater mussel relocation as a conservation strategy” by A.J. Peck, J.L. Harris, J.L. Farris, and A.D. Christian, “Cumulative watershed effects in the South Fork Spring River: habitat, mussels, macroinvertebrates and fish response variables” by H.C. Martin, J.L. Harris, and A.D. Christian, and “Species and size selective predation of freshwater mussels on the Buffalo National River, Arkansas” by R.L. Lawson, M.W. Matthews, F. Usery, S. Hodges, and A.D. Christian.