Non-native Species Introduced to the Great Lakes Region Interrupt the Natural Balance
Dec 22, 2015
Zebra Mussel
• This clam-like organism attaches itself to the bottom of ships, piers, and water intake pipes
• Multiplies quickly• Competes with other organism in consuming
plankton and algae… it is a consumer!• Can cut feet when walked on…ouch!• Controlled by cleaning boating and fishing gear.
Also by raking and cleaning shallow water and beaches
Ruffe
• The yellow perch and white fish are greatly disrupted by this predator
• It competes with other, more desirable fish
• 3-6 inches long
• Not desirable for food because of sharp top fin
Quagga Mussel
• This mussel is related to the zebra mussel
• Interrupts the natural balance of the ecosystem in a similar manner
Round Goby
• This predator fish came from the Black and Caspian Seas
• Feeds mainly on bivalves (clam-like organisms)
• Can see in the dark
• Fishermen and women leave them out to die when caught
Spiny Water Flea
• Small consumer that competes with young fish for food
• May have entered the Great Lakes waterways by ballast water from ships
• Controlled by not dumping water from one lake into another
• Cleaning boating and fishing gear after use
Sea Lamprey
• Larger parasite that interrupts the natural balance of the Great Lakes
• Can kill up to 40 pounds of fish in 12 to 20 months
Barriers are set to help control sea lamprey from entering
waterways.• When sea lamprey are caught, some are
killed
• Some males are sterilized, transported and reintroduced to the St Mary’s River where they hope that sterile males will mate with females producing no offspring.
Eurasian Watermilfoil
• Water plant that entangles boats and other water recreation vehicles
• Crowds out other water plants
• Expensive to get rid of-up to 1,000,000 per lake
• Eurasian watermilfoil is a producer!
Purple Loosestrife
• A lovely producer that inhabits wetlands, marshes and ditches
• Thought to have been brought by settlers to grow in gardens
• Creates a monosystem as it interrupts the natural balance
• Natural foods have been eliminated by its intrusion
Emerald Ash Borer
• Larva bores under ash tree bark
• Trees cannot transport nutrients
• Ash trees die
• Controlled by not transporting firewood and not planting ash trees
Ecosystems are always changing.
Some changes are sudden and dramatic like forest fires, oil
spills, and volcanoes.
Some changes occur slowly through stages over time.