Freshwater Mussels Research Paper

Today, what once was a scenic lake is covered in chest-high weeds. “ Boaters and fisherman enjoy going to Lake Bridgeport during the summer. But in the summer of 2013 the boat ramps were unusable so the number of residents going to the lake dropped. There are dead fish floating to the shoreline as well as many other wildlife animals. The lake tested positive for Zebra Mussel larva, which is shell like creatures that are very sharp and stick to boats, anchors and docks. The Mussels are very dangerous for the lake environment, but they also eat bacteria so they could help the lake water clear up. If no water is drained out of Lake Bridgeport then the residents of Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Worth could possibly run out of drinking water.

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.

Some examples include the zebra mussel, sea lamprey, and Asian carp. The zebra mussel first came to the great lakes by traveling in the ballast water of a transoceanic vessel. Over the years, it has spread into the entire great lakes system. They are very dense with contaminants, which causes predators to stray away from them and not digest them. The zebra mussel has had many negative impacts on the ecosystem. A zebra mussel can attach themselves firmly to any solid object, which has caused water intake and discharge pipes to clog. Some other impacts include suppressing native mussels, over clarifying the water, and stripping water from various plankton that native fish eat. Sea lamprey are another invasive species in the great lakes. A sea lamprey is an eel like fish that sucks bodily fluids from other fish. They have traveled to the great lakes on their own by swimming up the Hudson River. They have contributed to the collapse of the whitefish and lake trout fisheries. Some prevention actions have been put in place and include chemical treatments of spawning

Marine waters cover approximately four-fifths of the surface of the Earth. Such places are considered as an ecosystem because the plant life supports the animal life and vice versa. Marine ecosystems usually have quite a large biodiversity and are therefore thought to have a good resistance against invasive/introduced species. Sharks play a very important role in the oceans in a way that an average fish does not/can not. Sharks are at the top of the food chain and/or food web in virtually every single part of every ocean (Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern). Sharks keep the populations of other fish healthy and in proper proportion for the marine ecosystem; therefore if the shark population keeps decreasing there would be overpopulating species of fish and other food consumed by sharks. This could then lead on to cause many problems to the plant life as well, as some omnivorous animals may be forced to have a diet of strictly plants, which

At the bottom of the Missouri's streams lives the Lampsilis siliquoidea mussels where it lives out its life cycle. How it lives it's brilliant life cycle is first by luring a smallmouth bass over to it by copycatting the movement and the appearance of a Tartars fish tail which is actually the skin of the mussels which has over time evolved. Once the bass notices the lure and strikes the lure the muscle spews out a white cloud into the bass's mouth and gills which happen to be thousands of larvaes where they will live off the bass for nutrients. Its also safer for them to transition from larvae into juvenile mussels. After a couple of weeks the young mussels abandon the bass dropping leaving the basses unharmed and unaware of what happened making

One of the ways that they deal with the zebra mussels is through wiping out the current infestations that exist to threaten man-made structures and businesses. The way they do this is through placing chemicals in the water, mechanical scraps, and filters to prevent further spreading. Another way that humans deal with the zebra mussels is through implementing rules of cleaning crafts and live bait. This is done in order to prevent any further introduction of bodies of water. However, there are consequences if these species are left unchecked by not attempting to do the previous

Mr. Jason Dickey is an aquatic ecologist with over 15 years professional experience in the assessment of freshwater ecosystems. His Masters research focused on impairment and recovery of lakes and streams across a land use gradient in the southeastern U.S. Much of his work at Cardno has focused on the measurement of surface and groundwater, biological assessment of aquatic flora and fauna, and instream habitat surveys. Jason also specializes in federally protected aquatic species and habitat and has significant project experience with Gulf sturgeon and freshwater mussels. Jason is qualified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for conducting mussel surveys in the Florida panhandle and southern Georgia and Alabama.

The signs are plastered where everyone can see, “Clean, Drain, Dry your boat!” these words have become so well known, we are starting to forget their importance. The invasion of Zebra mussels into America’s waters has tremendously grown over the past several years and now, we are finally able to turn the tide on these treacherous creatures.

Recently zebra mussels from Black Sea, stowed away in ballast water ships, invaded North American waters, they blocked the water lines of factories, nuclear power plants in the regions of Great Lakes. Just after the arrival of Christopher Columbus’s ships in America in 15th century resulted in worldwide exchange of disease, crops and animals in the 20th century practice of ships using water as ballast helped to unite the formerly diverse world’s harbours. Similarly, air transport allows the spread of insects and diseases that would not easily survive

They have been known to grow very large, and can tolerate an extremely wide range of water quality and weather conditions. They consume large amounts of vegetation/plankton, negatively affecting the aquatic vegetation. In addition, they can increase the phosphorus levels, harming the water quality in the area of water.

Zebra Mussels are small mussels originally found in Russia, but were introduced into the Great Lakes in 1988. Zebra Mussels have spread throughout every Great Lake, and are prominent in over 100 inland lakes (Home). Ships traveling up the Erie Canal transported the zebra mussel from European waters into the Great Lakes. The zebra mussel quickly spread from Lake Erie to the other Great Lakes. The invading species began to attach itself to almost every solid thing in the Great Lakes. These can stick to boats, damage structures such as docks and piers, and they can clog water intake pipes, which are used for drinking and industrial use. Invasive species like the zebra

In my ecology project the invasive species that interested me the most was the zebra mussel. In this report, I will be addressing the negative impacts that zebra mussels have on an ecosystem and the positive impacts of human actions on those ecosystems.

Zebra mussels may seem to be small and harmless creators, but these invasive species are taking over the ecosystem. First appearing in the Great Lakes, but over time has spread all across the U.S causing huge problems. Zebra mussels are negatively impacting lakes and rivers, as they are invasive species, and are killing may native species.

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,