Land

Authors “Canvas Detroit” for art’s impact on the urban environment

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In “Canvas Detroit,” Nichole Christian and Julie Pincus profile the Motor City’s brightest and most diverse of up and coming street artists. From murals on boulevards to grass sculptures, their work can actively improve the urban environment and shine a light on previously ignored and abandoned cityscapes. Detroit is a city that needs “problem solving,” Christian says, and art won’t solve it all. But the city is fostering a wickedly creative atmosphere that is ripe for revitalization. ­Christian recently explained to Great Lakes Echo the importance of street art and how it can revitalize a city.

Echo

Twelfth day of Christmas: Quaggas clogging

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Editor’s Note: It’s an Echo tradition to revisit one of our favorite holiday stories: Tim Campbell’s The Twelve Days of Aquatic Invasive Species Christmas. Campbell rewrote the lyrics of the holiday tune for the Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2011.  We’re publishing a new verse on each of the actual twelve days of Christmas.  

 

On the twelfth day of Christmas, a freighter sent to me… Twelve quaggas clogging — Quagga mussels are now the dominant invasive mussel in Lake Michigan. A congener (a member of the same genus) of zebra mussels, the quagga mussel can tolerate colder water and colonize soft substrates.

Echo

Eleventh day of Christmas: Gobies gobbling

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Editor’s Note: It’s an Echo tradition to revisit one of our favorite holiday stories: Tim Campbell’s The Twelve Days of Aquatic Invasive Species Christmas. Campbell rewrote the lyrics of the holiday tune for the Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2011.  We’re publishing a new verse on each of the actual twelve days of Christmas.  

 

On the eleventh day of Christmas, a freighter sent to me… ‘Leven gobies gobbling — Round gobies are very effective egg predators. Their advanced lateral line system (a series of fish sensory organs) allows them to find eggs that native benthic egg predators are unable to.

Wildlife

Tenth day of Christmas: Alewives croaking

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Editor’s Note: It’s an Echo tradition to revisit one of our favorite holiday stories: Tim Campbell’s The Twelve Days of Aquatic Invasive Species Christmas. Campbell rewrote the lyrics of the holiday tune for the Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2011.  We’re publishing a new verse on each of the actual twelve days of Christmas.  
On the tenth day of Christmas, a freighter sent to me…
Ten alewives croaking — Alewives are one of the few invasive species that foul Great Lakes beaches throughout the summer. Until the introduction of Pacific salmon, alewives died off in such great numbers that tractors were required to remove them from beaches. Salmon now do a great job controlling alewife numbers, but there are still alewife die-offs due to spawning-related stresses.

Echo

Ninth day of Christmas: Eggs in resting

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Editor’s Note: It’s an Echo tradition to revisit one of our favorite holiday stories: Tim Campbell’s The Twelve Days of Aquatic Invasive Species Christmas. Campbell rewrote the lyrics of the holiday tune for the Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2011.  We’re publishing a new verse on each of the actual twelve days of Christmas.  

On the ninth day of Christmas, a freighter sent to me… Nine eggs in resting — The spiny waterflea and the fishhook waterflea produce tiny resting eggs that can survive long after the mature waterflea has perished.  The resting eggs can also survive extreme environmental conditions, so it is imperative to make sure that recreational equipment is cleaned to prevent spreading these invasive crustaceans.  Luckily, their Wisconsin distribution is limited to Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, the Madison Lakes, and a few other inland lakes. Eight shrimp ‘a swarming, seven carp and counting, six lamprey leaping, FIVE BOAT-WASH STATIONS!

Echo

Eighth day of Christmas: Shrimp a swarming

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Editor’s Note: It’s an Echo tradition to revisit one of our favorite holiday stories: Tim Campbell’s The Twelve Days of Aquatic Invasive Species Christmas. Campbell rewrote the lyrics of the holiday tune for the Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2011.  We’re publishing a new verse on each of the actual twelve days of Christmas.  

 

On the eighth day of Christmas, a freighter sent to me… Eight shrimp ‘a swarming — The bloody red shrimp, Hemimysis anomala, is one of the Great Lakes’ most recently discovered ballast invaders. Another Ponto-Caspian invader, bloody-red shrimp swarms have been documented up to 1,500 individuals/square meter.

Echo

Seventh day of Christmas: Carp

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Editor’s Note: It’s an Echo tradition to revisit one of our favorite holiday stories: Tim Campbell’s The Twelve Days of Aquatic Invasive Species Christmas. Campbell rewrote the lyrics of the holiday tune for the Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2011.  We’re publishing a new verse on each of the actual twelve days of Christmas. On the seventh day of Christmas, a freighter sent to me… Seven carp and counting — There are seven species of invasive carp in the United States. There are the four collectively known as Asian carp (black, grass, silver and bighead), the common carp, the crucian carp, and last but not least, the Prussian carp (aka the goldfish).

Echo

Sixth day of Christmas: Lamprey leaping

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Editor’s Note: It’s an Echo tradition to revisit one of our favorite holiday stories: Tim Campbell’s The Twelve Days of Aquatic Invasive Species Christmas. Campbell rewrote the lyrics of the holiday tune for the Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2011.  We’re publishing a new verse on each of the actual twelve days of Christmas. On the sixth day of Christmas, a freighter sent to me… Six lamprey leaping — This is actually some bad lamprey biology humor. Lampreys are poor jumpers, especially when compared to trout and salmon, so a small low-head obstacle or ledge can prevent lampreys from moving further upstream while other fish leap over the obstacle.