![]() He coordinates response efforts that deal with existing species, identify next invaders and prevent them from being introduced into the Great Lakes. Nathan Lucas, the aquatic invasive species coordinator at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division, said it’s essential to communicate the threat of invasive species to the public. “So, in this case, it’s almost like we’re fighting fire with fire in that one invasive species is actually helping to keep another invasive species under control,” Bootsma said. Round gobies can easily crush the shells of smaller mussels and eat the young mussels before they can grow and recolonize. If mussels are removed from an area, the only way they can recolonize there is for young mussels, also known as veliger, to settle on the rocks and grow. They found that zebra and quagga mussels face their own threat from another invasive species: the round goby, a fish that eats small mussels. They wanted to see how the algae in that area would respond without the mussels and how quickly the mussels would return.įour years later in 2020, the mussels have not returned to that area, and Bootsma and his team think they know why. Still alive, the mussels were placed in mesh bags and moved far from the location. In the summer of 2016, Harvey Bootsma, a professor in the School of Freshwater Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and his research team conducted an experiment to remove mussels in Lake Michigan.ĭivers used paint scrapers to manually scrape and clear mussels from the rocks in an area about 48 square yards. These invasive mussels, native to eastern Europe, are members of a family of small freshwater mussels that attach to hard surfaces such as rocks, docks and boats. The study focused on zebra and quagga mussels in nearshore and mid-depth areas of Lake Michigan. ![]() These clamlike creatures brought to the Great Lakes by ships in their ballast water have killed native mussels, altered food dynamics and affected phosphorus cycling in Lake Michigan, according to a recent study in the journal Ecological Modelling by scientists and engineers from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. LANSING - A patch of bare rocks studied last summer in Lake Michigan revealed threats to the invasive mussels that for years have disrupted the Great Lakes ecosystem. Spartan Newsroom - News and information from student journalists at the Michigan State University School of Journalism About the Michigan State University School of Journalism.MSU School of Journalism Code of Ethics.MSU journalism COVID-related reporting guidelines.Michigan Chile Investigative Journalism Program.If an aircraft is beached or taxied to the shore, then the floats or bottom should be checked for invasives before landing in a pristine lake, or one where there is no motorized boat traffic.Īny remote lake that has no road access should be considered to be free of invasives, and deserving of our efforts to make sure we are invasive-free before landing there. Invasives can be picked up during the approach to and stay on a beach. Landing in the middle of a lake may avoid concentrations of floating aquatic plants found in shallow water at the shorelines. Boat trailers and outboard motors are common transports of invasives. Lakes at the same elevation and in the same watershed as an infected lake may be free of invasives if they do not allow motorized watercraft and have no public launch ramp. Lower elevation and warmer lakes are more likely to have Eurasian milfoil, zebra mussels, or other invasive species than are higher elevation and cooler or more remote lakes. There are four general rules to follow to minimize the risk of transporting invasive species by seaplane: (1) try not to transport plant fragments and other debris (including mud) from lake to lake (2) don’t move untreated water from lake to lake (3) be especially careful when flying from an infested body of water to a pristine one and (4) consider all pump-out water as contaminated.
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