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How Ecology, Hydrogeology, and Geomorphology MULTI-FACETED “MUDBUGS”: HOW ECOLOGY, HYDROGEOLOGY, AND GEOMORPHOLOGY INFLUENCE BURROWING CRAYFISH BIODIVERSITY IN ALABAMA’S BLACK BELT PRAIRIE by REBECCA ANN BEARDEN ALEXANDER D. HURYN, COMMITTEE CHAIR JENNIFER G. HOWETH PAIGE F. FERGUSON CARLA L. ATKINSON NATASHA T. DIMOVA GUENTER A. SCHUSTER A DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Biological Sciences in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA 2020 Copyright Rebecca Ann Bearden 2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT Aquatic species are facing imperilment at a disproportionate rate compared to terrestrial species and thus higher probabilities of extinction. The southeastern United States has an exceptionally high level of freshwater biodiversity, supporting the majority of the nation’s fish, mussel, and crayfish species. Crayfish research, in particular, is significant to conservation efforts, as nearly half of the crayfish species in the southeastern United States are threatened. Through their signature burrowing strategy, many crayfish bridge the gap between aquatic and terrestrial communities, especially in floodplain habitats. Floodplains are highly heterogeneous and harbor a high diversity of species, yet our understanding of species-habitat relationships within these complex ecosystems remains incomplete and may hinder conservation. I studied floodplains in the Bogue Chitto Creek watershed in the Black Belt Prairie region of Alabama to investigate: 1) activity patterns of primary burrowing crayfish and 2) local and landscape level environmental factors that may affect burrowing crayfish distribution. In Chapter 2, I used motion-triggered digital photography to document activity patterns for two primary burrowing crayfish. I found that out-of-burrow activity was greatest at night and during periods of relatively cool groundwater temperatures and relatively warm air temperatures, which may be linked to thermal regulation. In Chapter 3, I examined relationships between burrowing crayfish presence and species composition and local hydrogeological factors. Results suggested an increased likelihood that crayfish were present at sites with a shallow water table, and that species composition was marginally associated with depth to groundwater and inundation ii duration. In Chapter 4, I investigated associations between burrowing crayfish presence and species composition and geomorphological factors. I found that crayfish were more likely to be present in areas that were not in the channel migration path, areas near streams with a greater sinuosity, areas with greater floodplain connectivity, and areas with less forested land use. The combined results of my studies in the Bogue Chitto Creek watershed suggest that projects embracing integrated, multidisciplinary approaches to surface and groundwater hydrology as drivers of biodiversity should be a priority for research related to the conservation of burrowing crayfish populations and communities. iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the patient and supportive “Team Crayfish.” iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS d.f. Degrees of freedom: number of values free to vary after certain restrictions have been placed on the data p Probability associated with the occurrence under the null hypothesis of a value as extreme or more extreme than the observed value r Pearson correlation coefficient ρ Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient < Less than = Equal to v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am forever indebted to my advisor, Alex Huryn, for taking me on as a graduate student, encouraging me to tackle burrowing crayfish as a research project, and for helping me stay focused on the basics of burrower biology. Alex’s first research advice was the best I’ve ever received: “Go and sit in your study system, observe what you see, and think hard about what’s going on around you.” I am also grateful to the godfather of Alabama crayfish, Guenter Schuster, for his mentorship and the wealth of crayfish knowledge he has shared over the past five years. I will continue to seek his advice as long as he will allow. I thank Jennifer Howeth, Carla Atkinson, Paige Ferguson, and Natasha Dimova for their guidance as committee members and for their leadership as women in science. I look forward to future collaborations with all of you. I am grateful to past and present graduate students, Emma Arneson, Nate Sturm, Jacob Dawson, and Zoe Nichols, for providing moral and field support during this project. I especially thank John Abbott for his guidance regarding laser-triggered photography. Thanks to his direction, the world of astacology now has a nondestructive sampling method for recording burrowing crayfish activity. I thank the University of Alabama Biological Sciences Department for funding the cameras and laser triggers used for Chapter 2 and data loggers used for Chapter 3. I am forever grateful to my co-author, Emily Tompkins, who spent hours not only helping me understand how to run generalized linear mixed models in R but also editing my rough draft chapters to make them publication-quality manuscripts. What I have learned from Emily constitutes an entire graduate course in data analysis. vi I express gratitude to the Geological Survey of Alabama (GSA) for solely funding the shallow monitoring well supplies for Chapter 3 and for allowing me to utilize the geochemistry lab for sediment analysis for Chapter 3. I especially thank Nick Tew, Pat O’Neil, and Stuart McGregor for their support of my academic endeavors. I also greatly appreciate the data collection assistance from Daniel West, Parker Nenstiel, Greg Guthrie, Steve Jones, and David Tidwell and from Jamekia Durrough-Pritchard and Anne Wynn (formerly of GSA). I thank Gary Hastert of GSA for his invaluable GIS contributions utilized heavily for Chapter 4. I attribute my love of nature and pursuit of science to my late father, Gary Bearden, who never missed an opportunity to share his knowledge of the natural world, especially via his preferred instruction method—horseback. I thank my sweet mother, Peggy Bearden, who offers daily encouragement for all of my scholastic goals, unwavering love, and attention to detail, which have all proven invaluable during my graduate career. I thank my sister, Rachel Bearden Yeargan, whose work ethic rivals that of any scientist past or present, for her friendship, sibling support, and high standards. I am grateful to my two nephews, J.B. and Gary, for their indulgence in hours of creek time and to my brother-in-law, Brant Yeargan, for spending time and skills cutting up scores of sediment cores for analysis. I am eternally grateful to my biggest supporter, Chris Weaver, who spent years of his life dedicated to this project. The blood, sweat, and tears were all in the name of science, and I am evermore appreciative of his love, the opportunity to conduct research alongside him, and his tireless efforts in assisting with arduous fieldwork. This project would not have happened without him. vii CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS ............................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE DISSERTATION .......................................................1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2: Activity study ........................................................................................................ 2 Chapter 3: Local environmental factors .................................................................................. 4 Chapter 4: Landscape-scale environmental factors ................................................................ 5 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2: MOTION-TRIGGERED LASER PHOTOGRAPHY REVEALS FINE- SCALE ACTIVITY PATTERNS IN BURROWING CRAYFISH ................................................9 Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 10 Methods .................................................................................................................................... 13 Study area .............................................................................................................................. 13 Study organisms .................................................................................................................... 13 Photography .........................................................................................................................
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