The Invasion Of Starry Stonewort In The Great Lake

Native Plant Study- The area that Lake Doonella is located in has great vegetation and variety of native plants which gives the native animals and local residents a beautiful home as well as a lovely sight for tourists. There are numerous different plants in all different shapes and sizes that call this area home. Some plants even have berries growing on them in many different colours for the animals to feed off. During the field walk there were many trees and plants but the most commonly viewable one was the Scribbly gum. ( shown in .. (ref off iBooks)

- Traits such as resistance to pesticides may cause overpopulation in unfavorable plant species, such as weeds. This resistance could also be passed on to species of insects that the pesticides were made for, thus negating the effect of the pesticide in the first place.

Underwater grasses, or Elodea, was observed as well. This wide variety of life is a good indicator of the water’s health.

also damage the plants and prove to be a detriment to its lifetime. Plus, plants

Back in the 1960’s, Lake Erie was declared “dead” because, ironically, it was full of life – just not the right kind (GLIN, n.d.). The algal blooms that formed due to high concentrations of nutrient-loaded city street run off invaded the freshwater lake, killing native species, reducing oxygen quantities, and smothering beaches with its slime (GLIN, n.d.).

Phosphorus, “...the primary algae-feeding nutrient in Lake Erie, and contributed to the largest algae bloom in history last year” (McCarty, para. 3), is a key factor in how

In the field of Invasion Ecology, understanding the four stages of invasion of a specific invader is imperative to understand the invader. This idea is well documented with the rusty crayfish, Orconectes rusticus. The rusty crayfish is a crustacean native to the Ohio River Basin (Hein et al. 2007). However, the rusty crayfish has invaded not only bordering states such as Wisconsin but also far away areas such as Ontario and Oregon (Hein et al. 2007, Sorenson et al. 2012). The reason that the invasion occurs both in nearby and far away areas is that the rusty crayfish moves to new areas through two different methods (Puth and Allen 2005).The rusty crayfish has invaded multiple places in the US and Canada through human mediated jump dispersal

Producing long and hair-like filaments, Lyngbya normally grows in dense mats at the bottoms of nutrient-enriched lakes and spring-fed systems. These mats produce gasses during photosynthesis that often cause the mats to rise to the surface where they can grow to several acres in size. Winds push the mats causing them to pile up against shorelines and in channels making navigation difficult and decreasing sunlight for the native species. In some areas, the algae bloom covers so much of the pre-existing vegetation that it smothers eelgrass, a preferred food of the endangered West Indian manatee. Reduced water clarity and extreme fluctuations in oxygen stress every part of the ecosystem and as a result, tiny essential, life-sustaining micro-organisms that feed on native vegetation are severely reduced, and so are the fish, turtles, manatees and other wildlife that feed on them. The birds and larger animals that feed on smaller animals must find new, more plentiful

Ulster County faces two major problems with this invasive species. First, this algae covers the stream bottom with an almost impenetrable layer of matting. It chokes out plant life, and separates the fish from the invertebrates on the stream bed. This separation reduces fish populations, and cripples trout fishing tourism in our area. Upstate New York has some of the best trout fishing streams on the east side of the country. These streams showcase local conservation work, and draw heavy tourism. The algae also has the ability to gum-up piping and aqueducts. Ulster County accounts for nearly 75% of

Kelp forests are seen as the ultimate ecological engineer in coastal areas. They exist in marine environments spanning in southern California, Aleutian Islands, and the western north Atlantic. Light, latitude, and water temperature and nutrients all play a role in facilitating the growth of kelp forests all around the world, (Bolton). Kelp specifically dominates the shallow rocky coasts of the world‘s cold water marine habitats. Although they look as a free-growing plant, they are in fact primarily of brown algae. These structures provide food and shelter to a huge mix of biota, including crabs, sea urchins, mollusks, and other marine organisms (Steneck). The fronds, or large leaves of the kelp are the distinctive feature that can represent where a specific kelp may be found. The sizes of these organisms can range from the smallest found near California and Alaska at 5m to giant kelp up to 45m in length found on the west coasts of North and South America (Hamilton).

For example, the cross-pollination of these edited plants to weed species could lead to a complete takeover in an ecosystem, not unlike the effects of kudzu. Likewise, the fact that these plants are so resistant to natural threats could easily lead to occurrences not unlike those regarding invasive species, where non-native plants replace native plants in the local ecology. It could even be said that much of an area’s specific tradition could be lost to the growth of these new crops, as the people in these areas would no longer depend on the native crops, instead adopting the agriculture of Western society. This potential annihilation by plant life is a prime example of takeover by technology, not unlike the story of “The

Along the coasts of rocky beaches, an intricate ecological community inhabits the ‘rocky intertidal’ areas. The variety of rocks is home to an array of slimy, squishy, and colorful organisms. This intertidal community is comprised of nine species: three different algae, three stationary filter-feeders, and three mobile consumers. The three algae, Nori Seaweed, Black Pine, and Coral Weed, are the community’s producers and inhabit the bottom of the food chain. The next three species are stationary consumers. They are Mussel, Goose Neck Barnacle, and Acorn Barnacle. Because of their consumer status, they are more competitively dominant than algae. The last three components are the mobile consumers: Whelk, Chiton, and Starfish. They

(To the right is a photograph of knotweed stems growing.) The Japanese Knotweed can take over the home of many native species because it is able to survive in varying environmental conditions, such as high temperatures, dry soil, salt, wetlands, roadsides, and any disturbed area. Japanese Knotweed is not only an invasive species to vegetation, but also to humans because they can cause structural damage to the roadways and block signs, guardrails, and walkways. The knotweed is so dense that it prevents groundcovers and mosses to grow beneath the canopy of the knotweed, which leaves riverbanks and roadsides near water susceptible to erosion. Knotweed only becomes more problematic as it grows because its roots become longer, allowing for re-sprouting from the rhizome fragments. According to Massachusetts’ Department of Transportation and the Friends of Arlington’s Great Meadows, the “successful efforts to control knotweed include: sustaining long-term management, staying within the limits of the resources available by focusing on small areas, and finally to incorporate restoration.” There are different ways to try and control knotweed, but Massachusetts’ DOT has found through

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,

When two or more plants are planted together, it is important to know which plants can be companion plants and antagonist plants because certain plants grow better and work with companions plants. According to the article, “Cultural Control Practices” by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, companion plants can help the growth of some plants because certain plants can attract beneficial insects or repeal insects that will support or inhibit the growth of other plants (n.d.). On the other hand, antagonist plants can affect plants by interfering with the normal growth of plants, “plant succession, the structure of plant communities, dominance,