The Great Lakes are one of the most plentiful and prosperous regions in the world. The Great Lakes area is arguably one of the most wonderful places on earth. Well known for its agriculture, tourism, harbors, cities, and of course the water. However, things are not always as blissfully perfect as they seem. There are many things endangering the great lakes. For instance, a big factor of endangerment of the Great Lakes is Pollution. Others aspects of why the Great Lakes are struggling is the amount of habitat loss and the increasing intake of invasive species. These distructful elements are all key components for the Great Lakes to be severely damaged in the future. Since the 1960’s and even beforehand, society had been struggling to take care …show more content…
Species such as the zebra mussel, quagga mussel, urasian malfoil, sea lamprey, and asian carp reproduce and spread. These invasive miscreants ultimately degrade habitat, outcompete the native species, not to mention short-circuiting food webs. When a new and aggressive species is introduced into an ecosystem, it might not have any natural predators or controls. It can breed and spread relatively fast, taking over an area. Native wildlife may not have evolved defenses against the invader or they cannot compete with a species that has no predators.They threaten and hurt the Great Lakes economy by damaging critical industries such as fisheries, agriculture, and tourism. There are a couple of ways that these unwanted species are introduced to the Great Lakes region. Ships can carry aquatic “hitchhikers”in its ballast water. A ballast tank is used to balance big ships. When a ship empties it’s ballast tank, invasive species may have traveled unknowingly with the ship and then are released with all of the water into the Great Lakes. Zebra mussels first came to the U.S. from Eurasia in ship ballast water released into the Great Lakes in the 1800’s. Since then, they have spread dramatically, outcompeting native species for food and habitat. Zebra mussels can attach to almost any hard surface, a nuisance to the communities in the Great Lakes region and the animals. They clog water intake and discharge pipes, attach themselves to boat hulls and docks, and they even attach to native mussels and crayfish. Plants can get stuck on boat propellers and then fall off accidentally into a new body of water. Invasive species can alter the diversity of species that are important for native wildlife. Aggressive plant species like Urasian Malfoil can quickly replace a diverse ecosystem with a monoculture of just Urasian Malfoil. Another species named Asian Carp are a fast growing
As if there weren’t enough problems for scientists trying to save the Great Lakes Eco System. Many non-native species have entered the eco system and many of them are harmful. Every species in itself has played a role in the eco system. These non-native species make it increasingly difficult for the Great Lakes Eco System to be regulated.
The Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), is a small freshwater mollusk that is an invasive species. It has slowly been making its way into the United States. It has done this by showing up in lakes and in rivers. The mussels get their name due to the striped pattern on their shells. They are a relatively small species, only growing to the size of a human finger nail but there have been cases of larger (“Zebra Mussels,” 2013, para. 2). Mussels live a short life span of 4-5 years and most do not make into adulthood. They live in freshwater at depths of 6 to 24 feet. The female produces 30,000 to 1,000,000 eggs per year starting at the age of two. Zebra Mussels are free moving and can move with an external organ called the byssus (“Zebra Mussels,” 2013, para. 3). But they can be moved around by currents and other objects too. Zebra Mussels are a threat to ecosystems. They damage the natural habitat of lakes and rivers and cause negative effects to the native aquatic life. They multiply in vast majority casing a lake of food and space for other animals. And also the U.S. has spent millions on the removal of these pests from our water (“Zebra Mussels,” 2014, para. 8). The Zebra Mussel has now made its way into Colorado. Just a few has been found in the waters of Colorado but a few is enough to cause a big stir. Extreme precautions have now been put into effect to make sure that the threat of Zebra Mussels is under control.
Invasive species as a whole have become a nuisance to many habitats and ecosystems around the world. What defines an invasive species is the following. It must be a species that is foreign to the habitat it resides in, have no natural predators which allow it to reproduce in such a rapid manner, and out compete native animals of food and shelter (Rosenthal 2011). These characteristics are what create such high populations of these invasive species in various habitats around the globe.
Fish habitat is the underwater world which many people do not see. It is just like the world that people live. Fish and plants reproduce, eat, and live in this environment, and even face challenges such as invasive species. It is said that “Invasive species are non-native species that threaten the diversity or abundance of native species due to their uncontrollable population growth, causing ecological or economic impacts” (“Invasive” par. 1). Vegetation plays a big role for fish habitat and for a lake itself. Aquatic habitat provides living space for not only fish but also for many aquatic insects. These insects then in turn provide fish and other species of animals with food (“Native” par. 4).
Nonnative species can also be called alien, exotic, or nonindigenous. Their presence is due to humans dispersing them to other locations beside their native habitat, or by humans creating environmental conditions that allow their growth. When nonnative species begin to take over a new habitat and displace native species, they are then termed an invasive species. Nonnative invasive species are one of the biggest threats to ecosystems in North America (Cox, 1999) because they are able to have an impact on many levels, including ecosystems, communities, and populations (Cushman, Tierney, & Hinds, 2004).
North America, especially the United States hosts some of the most beautiful rivers and lakes on the entire planet. That is in thanks to its geographical location, and the extent of the level of technology that is available to the world because of American engineers and scientists. Scientists are given the opportunity to create chemicals or other inventions that are beneficial to the waterways. As well as building structures strong enough to harness the sheer power of water; altering the course it will take downstream as well as blocking it from ever reaching a specific location. The Asian carp invasion is causing massive amounts of damage; one would believe that because of the advancing field of technology a solution would be a relatively
... needs to be placed on research efforts to reduce the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment. Aquatic habitats such as the Great Lakes are almost always at the disadvantaged end because that is where effluent ends up. The basis of current regulations is the effect of said chemicals on human health and other public health threats as opposed to the environment. But as the Alliance for the Great Lakes reports, legislation by the concerned government agencies [U.S. EPA] is changing to include pharmaceuticals in pollutant regulation (15). Advocacy and community initiatives such as the Indiana-Illinois Sea Grant Community Project if continued will be pivotal in educating the public about the need to preserve or responsibly exploit our precious resources. Our motivation ought to be one of altruism: To protect our environment for the benefit of future generations.
As swans drift with the current on a secluded lake in upper Canada they think not of the water they are in but of dreams of the past and wants for the future. On the other hand, seals off the coast of Northern California fear for their lives every day of humans exploiting their natural habitat. Many things can endanger water born animals, and most all of these come directly from humans. The pollutants of water come from many sources both close and far away from the water body itself. Wastes of humans are the major cause of pollution in the water, such materials include sewage, chemicals among other notable items. First, the composition water: water is odorless, tasteless and a transparent liquid. Though in large quantities water appears to have a bluish tint, it maintains the transparent tendency when observed in smaller quantities. Water covers approximately seventy percent of the Earth's surface in the solid and liquid form. Pollutants can be carried over a great distance by combining with evaporating moisture, forming clouds and then the wind taking the clouds to the larger body of water. This process is called acid rain and it is a major source of water pollution. Acid rain has been a problem since the Industrial Revolution, and has kept growing ever since. With acid rain moving over to a fresh water body, the plants and animals could experience pollution that they never had to deal with before and they could possibly die for the sudden change without them having time to adapt, if this is possible.
The Great Lakes compact relates to north shore communities directly because they are the region that boarder the shore of the great lake of Lake Superior, the largest great lake. All of the information in this compact relates to the north shore, as well as to the rest of the lake. This compact has countless respectable ideas on how to preserve and protect the lakes that Lake Superior could and should utilize. They also have many resources and educational opportunities that communities and citizens of the north shore can take advantage of, such as, a ravine restoration toolkit, a K-12 educational curriculum, an adopt-a-beach program and much more.
Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable. GLRPPR, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. .
Invasive species only started to show up in the United States when the Europeans started to arrive. Beforehand, very limited contact was made in this particular region of the world, so very few invasive species came into North America. When the Europeans arrived in 1492, after Columbus discovered North America, they brought their own culture and essential food and animals with them. At first, it was just the basics of maize, wheat, pumpkins, and squash, but later on it also included cows, chickens, and horses . As more Europeans flocked into the country, non-native species began to appear in the area. Often, as non-native species appeared it led to unintended consequences of destroying gra...
Water pollution has had devastating effects on the environment, which include irreversible effects on the oceans ecosystem. People often underestimate the importance of the ocean. They don’t realize how much damage pollution has caused to the ocean and the thousands of creatures that inhabit it. Earth is a huge place, but resources are actually very limited and will not last forever unless there is a balance. We must protect the resources we have in order for them to last into the next generation.
Invasive alien species are disrupting and changing the normal ecological functions of biomes, ecosystems, and the biosphere as a whole (CBD, 2009). They are a threat to biodiversity and can cause damage to, or even eradicate native species which natural cycles and other organisms depend on. While disrupting energy flow, food chains, and shaking the structure of ecosystems to the core, invasive species create not only ecological, but also a whole host of social, economical, and health issues that affect the livelihood of almost every organism on earth, including humans (CBD, 2009).
Introducing exotic species has been a highly debated issue. Why should we bring another animal or plant into a region to eradicate another species? That’s the question that people have been asking for ages. Of course, there are positives to bringing in another species, but many times, there are just as many negatives. Also, these species can be introduced accidentally or intentionally. The new organism may cause no obvious problems and eventually, it will be considered “native” to the area. For example, corals are “perhaps the oldest animals on the planet, and these long-lived corals have evolved in one of the Earth’s most stable environments” (Eichenberg, p.2). If a new type of fish were to be put into the ecosystem with the corals, the coral would be affected. First, the fish might eat the coral. Second, they could use the coral for shelter, and possibly damaging it that way. Third, the fish could bring predators that might also eat the coral. Introducing an exotic species has the “rippling affect” of dropping a stone into a pool of water. Everything outside the epicenter is affected. A study was done at Cornell University, and they estimated that $120 billion per year are spent fixing the problems caused by exotic species” (Chiras, p.
According to World WildLife Fund, many ecosystems around the world are being destroyed, eliminating many plant and animal species that inhabit them (“Pollution”).