Their filtering makes the water clearer and allows more sunlight to get to the bottom of the lake where the algae grows.īootsma said algae, like any other plant, needs light to grow. Mussels are “filter feeders,” meaning they feed on things that float in the water. Jude, University of Michigan.Researchers found that the round goby, an invasive species, keeps zebra mussels, like those pictured, from returning to areas where they’ve been removed. “The mussels were creating a perfect storm for the algae,” he said.ĭ. The team discovered that the mussels were helping the algae grow. “We started focusing on the nuisance algae problem, but eventually realized we had to study mussels to understand the algae,” he said. The benthic algae had been a problem in the 1960s but began to come back in the 2000s.Īt the same time, his research team noticed that invasive mussels had become a problem in Lake Michigan and recognized a link between the two. The algae also cause oxygen depletion when it decomposes, negatively affecting nearby organisms. “When new invaders come in, that is when you see a really big spike in our efforts trying to eradicate them from becoming a permanent fixture of our ecosystem,” Lucas said.īootsma said his research of invasive mussels began with a noticeable overgrowth of benthic algae in Lake Michigan.īenthic algae grow on rocks at the bottom of lakes and are an important food source for some fish.Īccording to Bootsma, the algae break off when there is too much growth, wash up on shores, rots and create a horrible smell. 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.
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