California Mussels Influence On Mytilus Californianus

Initially established in the lake as a food source for warm water fish the crawfish as well as mysid shrimp have polluted the naturally clear waters of Tahoe, and restricted the zooplankton community. The crawfish introduced into the lake may be thriving in the area for numerous reasons, and some scientists suggest that the current rise in other food sources for the non-native fish species has sparked the incline in their population (www.tahoescience.org).

As well as pollution, invasive species are damaging the lake ecosystems and food chains, made fragile by pollution and overfishing. The introduction of a new species throws off the balance of food chains. Some common invasive species include the sea lamprey, Asian carp, and zebra mussels, among many others. Zebra mussels have dramatically influenced and affected stable food chains by reducing the amount of zooplankton and phytoplankton. This presents a problem, as fish mostly feed on the drifters, and so they go hungry and die, leaving no food for larger fish to prey on. In addition to underwater disruption, it affects us as well, but only slightly. Plankton and algae especially are the most productive aquatic producers of oxygen, and by the decreasing population, we lose oxygen as well. The sea lamprey is also a problem, though it is not so influential to ecosystems as the zebra mussel.

     Colonization by zebra mussels has devastating ecological impacts on native bivalves (Mackie, 1991; Haag et al., 1993), frequently driving them to local extinction. Zebra mussels readily, perhaps preferentially, settle on native bivalves and eventually cover them over. They filter the water so efficiently that they can lower the amount of suspended food organisms below levels needed to sustain native unionids.

Over the years, climate change has affected marine species because it has increased the ocean temperature, causing it to get warmer, which is causing a negative impact to most marine organisms like echinoderms and cnidarians (Quinn, 2016). In many cases, the optimum temperature of growth increased 1-6°C, which created harmful effects on stages of development (Quinn, 2016). In some cases such as the American lobster (Homarus americanus), warming of the ocean had caused smaller body sizes (Le Bris et al., 2016). Even though there is some research that showed that the warm temperature could also benefit the lobster’s population, most of their population has declined in the warmest and southernmost regions of the lobster’s range in places like southern New England and Long Island Sound (Quinn, 2016).

The area of research that I have selected is the effects of overfishing in the Sea Otter ecosystem off the coast of California. The effects caused by the fishing pressure on the ecosystem will have different outcomes, depending on the strength and the types of relationships of the organisms present. (4) Red Abalone populations have declined drastically, to the point of the abalone fishery collapse. Several factors have led up to the collapse including Withering Syndrome, where the organism loses the ability to attach itself to rocks, making it more susceptible to predation, or the organism can eventually wither and starve to death. Sea Urchins and Red Abalone are a part of the same ecosystem, and are competitors of each other.(5) Both organisms graze on macroalgae and are a primary food source for Sea Otters. Sea Otters occurred from the North Pacific Rim down to Baja California, Mexico, but now only occur in small isolated patches (9) It is understood that Sea Otter presence can characterize community structure, where they can control and determine the size of Sea Urchin and Red Abalone populations. In the absence of Sea Otters, “Urchin Barrens” are created from the overgrazing of macroalgae by Sea Urchin. In these areas the ecosystem have changed dramatically, due to the overfishing, or in this case the over hunting, of Sea Otters causing a trophic cascade.(7)In some areas, Sea Otters have been reintroduced, in other areas they were never removed, and in others they

First of all, Zebra mussel disrupt the food chain. In the Great lakes, zebra mussels eat the plankton that small, native fish need to survive. Consequently, this hurts the native fish and the larger fish that feed them.

In the article published by the Detroit Free Press “How do you get rid 750 trillion mussels in the Great Lakes” written by Kathleen Lavey, the author discusses how there is currently no technology that would help on a large enough scale to kill all of the invasive mussels. Lavey talks about how there are paints that contain chili peppers which muscles don’t atach to. Companies use this paint on intake pipes so they do not get clogged with muscles. Lavey also discusses 060Bio which a piece of foam that is infused with copper and zinc ions which muscles find unsavory. They place these on boats, that way boats don’t get infested with muscles and move them around the lakes. There are many different ideas out there but they don’t have a method that

In the Salton Sea, desert pupfish are the only native fish species. They can be found in shoreline pools, agricultural drains, natural creeks and a few artificial refuge ponds. The actual use of the Sea itself by the desert pupfish is largely unknown. The protection and enhancement of existing habitats including shoreline pools, agricultural drains and natural creeks in the Salton Sea watershed are necessary for the future of this species in California.

The article “Fish Shrinking as Ocean Temperature Rise” by Boyd Professor R. Eugene Turner from Louisiana State University, discuss the effect rising temperature has on Menhadens. Menhadens are small silver fish that can be found in coastal waters ranging from Maine to Texas. Economically these fish are exceptionally important because they make up about one-half of the fish harvest from the fishing industry in the Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico. Furthermore these small silver fish are a crucial food source for terrestrial and marine animals such as seals, whales, birds, and several more. Using the data gathered from the National Marine Fisheries Services, Professor Turner calculated the changes in length and weight of the Menhaden. Turner then discovered that the Menhadens have shrunk by 15 percent over the past 65 years. He connects the decrease in size to the temperature of the ocean rising, by

Hemigrapsus sanguineus, commonly known as the Asian Shore Crab, has been a major player in the evolution of certain defenses of New England bivalve molluscs. Mytilus edulis, the New England blue mussel, has been directly impacted by the predation of the Asian Shore Crab. H. sanguineus is an invasive species to the Atlantic coast of the United States. It first appeared in the southern New England area in 1988, presumably by trade ships from the Western Pacific. It has since spread to the south Atlantic and is still expanding slowly northward as well (Stokstad, 2006). Introductions to new areas by humans allow for species who would never cross evolutionary paths to do just that. These new interactions provide a new framework and environment for novel selection pressures to present themselves. These strong selection pressures are a piece of the puzzle for the evolutionary change of heritable traits to occur (Freeman and Byers 2006).

Although the author provides some clear demonstration which indicates that zebra mussel could cause negative impact in North America, the lecturer takes issue with what has been proposed by the author. This controversy has been summarized in the following paragraphs.

Globally, economies and ecosystems have always depended on oysters (Crassostrea virginica) for many benefits such as enhancement of commercially important invertebrates and finfish, stabilization of shorelines, filtration of coastal water, and removal of excess nitrogen. Oyster population and growth has declined drastically, and in 2008 many commercial leases were abandoned because oysters were dying before reaching market size. This study focused on the correlation of oyster reduction with water salinity and conchs. Just before this decline there was an increase in the crown conch (Melongena corona), which is the oyster’s predator. A prolonged drought in southeastern United States at this time could be a factor because of reduced inputs

California feature is that it has almost all of climate types such as: windy, hot, cold, and etc. What’s the impact of climate variability and change? Well according to the (sciencedirect). There is increasing concern over the consequences of global warming for the food security and livings of the world's 36 million fisher folk and the nearly 1.5 billion consumers who rely on fish for more than 20% of their dietary animal protein. With mounting evidence of the impacts of climate variability and change on aquatic ecosystems, the resulting impacts on fisheries livings are likely to be significant, but remain a neglected area in climate adaptation policy. Drawing upon our research and the available literature,

With the increasing amount of disturbed habitats, invasive species could soon become the leading cause of ecological degradation (Soulé & Orians, 2001).  Invasive species can alter habitats in a number of ways.  Changes in the physical structure of the land are the most visually obvious.  Examples include narrowing stream channels, reducing sand supply to dunes, and stabilizing surfaces such as mudflats, and each invasive species goes about these changes in their own way.  For instance, the burrowing activities of Australian isopods cause the banks of tidal channels to collapse, leading to the widening of channels and the loss of vegetated salt marsh (Cox, 1999).  On the other hand, Japanese mussels that have invaded the San Diego area are stabilizing mudflats.  Although reaching Southern California in the 1960s,

Global warming is a major problem when providing a suitable habitat and lifestyle for ample marine life. With sea levels rising there are consequences to plant life in coastal wetlands that can not handle the amount of water being provided. The wetlands are important in their job to protect the species they contain and for stabilizing coastlines. Storms are increasing in magnitude and severity, causing the transport of nutrients to marine life to be disturbed. As shores move further inland animals will have to move and adapt, history has shown how this can decrease populations. In the future both rare and abundant species could become locally extinct, with rare species on the verge of becoming totally extinct.