Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/invasive-species/page/13/)
Native mussels have rapidly declined in the Great Lakes region, casualties of the zebra and quagga mussels brought in the ballast of ships. The foreign mussels attach to the native ones so that they can’t open, feed, breathe or breed.
It was first found in the St Lawrence Seaway and then Lake Erie. Now it has been identified on Lake St. Clair. The species forms thick mats and can cause skin, oral and gastrointestinal problems.
Scientists are mixing up the temperatures of a small Wisconsin lake to eliminate an invasive fish.
Large bladders move up and down the depth of the lake in an attempt to make the temperature intolerable for smelt.
Meet comedian Marty Milfoil, one of the stars of a campaign to teach waterfowl hunters how they can help limit the spread of invasive species.
The Wildlife Forever campaign includes billboards and public service announcements.
Longtime environment writer Jeff Alexander just launched a nifty feature to track the Asian carp crisis. It’s modeled after the Doomsday Clock that scientists created in the 1940s to track how the world inched toward nuclear holocaust. The Asian Carp Doomsday Clock features hands made of images of bighead and silver carp – two of the species biologists and others fear could devastate the Great Lakes ecosystem. Jeff does a nice round up of a week’s worth of bad news along the carp Maginot Line to justify setting the hands at a mere five minutes before midnight. When the original Doomsday Clock was launched in 1947, it was set at seven minutes to midnight.
Sheesh, and you thought Asian carp are threatening invaders. WKAR public radio in East Lansing, Mich., has a great interview with a botanist taking on a giant hogweed given to a Michigan resident. The Asian invasive can grow up to 14 feet tall and sports flowers that are two-feet across. So what’s the big deal? Well, as botanist Peter Carrington explains, chemicals on the outside of the plant can cause huge fluid-filled blisters to erupt on your skin.
Billboards in the Great Lakes region will soon feature a Louisiana high school senior’s prize-winning painting of a “silent invader.”
Monika Daniels’ painting of a largemouth bass swimming through zebra mussel infested waters will be used to remind Great Lakes boaters how to prevent the spread of invasive species. Daniels won an art contest held by Wildlife Forever, a Minnesota-based nonprofit conservation group that supports environmental education. This is the first year the group’s K-12 State-Fish Art Contest had a category dedicated to invasive species. Contestants also write an essay explaining what they’ve learned about how invasive species harm fish and their habitats and how that’s represented in their artwork. The group has a free lesson plan for educators called Fish-On!
Foreign plants and animals that threaten the Great Lakes ecology could soon be blown apart by ultrasound.
A new device is designed to kill such invasive species lurking in the ballast tanks of ships by blasting them with sound.
The White House’s recently accelerated a plan to permanently protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp. But many environmentalists are less than impressed.
The carp fights rage on.
An appeals court ruled against closing the Chicago locks. Now Great Lakes state attorneys are looking for support outside the region.