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VIDEO: How Many Sport Fish Can Lake Michigan Support?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrE4gXGgJI0

Who’s eating whom in Lake Michigan? The emergence of a few bad actors has made it difficult to answer that question. That’s why University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researchers are studying the impact of aquatic invasive species – specifically round gobies – on Lake Michigan food webs. Gobies are a ravenous and aggressive fish species that invaded Great Lakes in the early 1990s. They subsist on tiny bottom-dwelling organisms and feed on baby quagga mussels for a side dish, scientists say.

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Great Lakes formed by volcanoes? American students score poorly on geography tests

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Giant volcanoes formed the Great Lakes in prehistoric times. Not quite, but that’s what seven percent of U.S. 12th-grade students guessed on geography tests last year. More than half of students got it right: The Great Lakes formed when large volumes of freshwater melted from ice sheets and settled into depressed land. A recent segment of Yahoo! Who Knew?

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VIDEO: Great Lakes celebrate 332 years of European water exploration

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The first European mariners to explore the upper Great Lakes set sail 332 years ago last Sunday. Navigating the Niagara Falls proved too tricky for explorers before 1679, when Robert La Salle built a ship from scratch above the falls and cruised to Lake Michigan. A super cool segment of Yahoo! Who Knew? explores the history of European adventures on the world’s largest freshwater bodies of water.

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MASHUP: Mapping Michigan’s best pest and natural resources management

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Michigan Christmas tree growers looking to chemically combat the gypsy moth are out of luck – the time period to spray insecticides has ended for all counties. But a new tool makes it easier to know when it’s okay to spray. Michigan State University’s interactive map Enviro-weather combines weather data and best pest and natural resources practices. It recently added gypsy moth spray windows and temperature maps to help tree farmers treat the invasive insect. This mashup isn’t just for Christmas tree growers.

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Ohio lawmakers could override veto of Great Lakes water use bill

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The Toledo Blade reports today that Ohio lawmakers could override the governor’s veto of a bill establishing the Great Lakes region’s weakest water protections. Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed the hotly contested bill earlier this month. House Speaker Bill Batchelder told the Blade that nothing’s off the table, and that he wasn’t sure how to move forward in drafting legislation that would comply with the 2008 regional compact to protect the Great Lakes. Two former Ohio governors and environmental groups opposed the bill on grounds that it failed to meet the compact’s scientific requirements and protect Lake Erie from large water withdrawals. It would take 60 votes in the House and 20 in the Senate to override the governor’s veto; there was enough original support for the bill in both chambers for this happen, according to the story.

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See emerald ash borers in action; states still battling the bug

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Now is the best time to see the destructive, tree-eating emerald ash borer up close and personal. The inch-long green metallic beetles are most numerous from late June to mid July, according to the Emerald Ash Borer Information Network. But don’t be fooled by lookalikes. Here’s a guide for proper identification of the nasty nuisance. Officials have banned imported firewood, removed ash trees and even released tiny wasps to prevent them from overwhelming the region with little luck; the beetle has spread to all Great Lakes states over the past decade.