The little things that aren’t relevant enough at the time are the ones that usually hurt us. Zebra mussels affect our economy, health and agriculture in many ways and all we can do is watch. It can happen in a matter of days and develop into a traumatizing sequence of events for not only a small region, but a whole country.
The luxurious Great Lakes ecosystem has been severely damaged by more than 180 invasive and non-native species. According to Felix Martinez, species such as zebra mussels, quagga mussels, round goby, sea lamprey, and alewife reproduce and spread, ultimately degrading habitat, out-competing native species, and shorting the food webs (Great Lakes Region 2). “Zebra mussels are small, fingernail-sized animals that attach to
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Zebra mussels were introduced to the Great Lakes in 1988 and have created havoc from there. Adult zebra mussels can live out of water which allows them to spread from one body of water to another (Zebra Mussels 4). They issue an ideal problem because they can threaten human health and hurt the Great Lakes economy by damaging critical industries such as fisheries, agriculture, and tourism. For example, they can attach to boat motors and boat hulls, reducing performance and efficiency (Zebra Mussel 2). They have a negative impact on humans too. These mussels are trained to latch onto rocks, swim rafts and ladders where any swimmer can cut their feet from the mussels hard shells. Zebra mussels clog irrigation intakes and other pipes which affect the agricultural aspect of their cycle as well. Zebra mussels wreak havoc on ecosystems because they consume huge amounts of phytoplankton, like algae, effectively starving populations of native fish and other water wildlife. But now, because of the zebra mussel, the amount of plankton in the lakes has been significantly cut, so the marine population (which feeds on plankton) is pretty much gone in Lake Huron, and it is falling very rapidly in Lake Michigan (Kirk Haverkamp 7). President of the Alliance for …show more content…
Yes, it only takes is a few simple ways to help prevent the growth of these invasive monsters. Zebra mussels attach to anything they can, including; boats, docks, nets, swim platforms, even aquatic plants. Boat owners in infected areas need to clean weeds and debris from their boats, and remove any attached mussels. Zebra mussels attach to these boats in which they are carried wherever the boat goes, allowing them to spread their population. The next step of the cause is to drain the boat while traveling. Keep all drain plugs out while traveling because it’s illegal and dispose any unwanted bait which can lure the mussels. Lastly boat owners should dry docks, lifts, swim rafts and other equipment at least 21 days before placing the equipment into another body of water. Other agencies such as the NOAA(National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration) are committed to developing models and strategies to combat invasive species in a proactive and cost-effective manner (Felix Martinez 2). They are doing project start ups to help create up-to-date critical information needed by decision makers in evaluating potential rapid response actions to help contain these mussels. Once contained and gathered in bunches the NOAA plans to get rid of the zebra species, but they aren't quite sure how yet. Nobody really knows and that's the problem, but if citizens followed the clean, drain, dispose and dry procedures, it would help the NOAA contain these mussels
http://eaglenet.lambuth.edu/facultyweb/science/biology/RCook/community%20ecologyS10.pdf. Impacts on the Biodiversity. Quebec Biodiversity Website -. Web. The Web.
The Chesapeake Bay plays host to an astonishing amount of plant and animal life, providing much of our fish intake for species that aren’t being overfished. For the species that are being overdrawn, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is working to restore the populations, and it’s going well thus far. Another theme that is endangering the marine life populations as well as the health of the human population is the massive amount of polluti...
As reported by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), Eurasian milfoil, which is native to Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, was most likely accidentally introduced to the United States through ballast water, which is water from other places that is dumped into another body of water to aid in stabilizing a ship. The aquatic species are oftentimes trapped in these ballast waters and are released with them into new and unknown environments. This can lead to rapid growth of the invasive species and can become an endangerment to other organisms that...
There are many proposals to fix these problems. These proposals include implementation of stricter recreational and commercial seafood harvest limits, continue rebuilding/building of levees to stop further coastal erosion that would promote more seafood habitat, and more stringent regulation of offshore drilling. (Or elimination of offshore drilling entirely). Though that option would cause an economical catastrophe in Louisiana due to the massive revenue we take in from drilling. Though the debate is ongoing as to how to fix our current problem, most people can agree that this destruction is real, and must be reversed immediately.
Canada is a very large country, with areas of land in various climate regions, and land regions, thus having many ecozones that differentiate from another. The most populated ecozone in Canada is the Mixedwood Plains; the ecozone we are located in, named after the mixedwood forests that are native to the area. The Mixedwood Plains is one of the smallest of the Canadian ecozones, spanning only 175 963 kilometres squared. The Mixedwood Plains is bordered by three of the great lakes on the southern side of the ecozone, and comes up along the St Lawrence river to southern Quebec, and fills the tip of Ontario. It has rolling plains and small rock formations and escarpments. The Mixedwood Plains contains over half of the Canadian population as it contains some of Canada’s largest cities, including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Windsor. The Mixedwood Plains has a relatively temperate climate with summers ranging an average temperature of 18o c – 22oc and winters ranging from -3oc - -110c.[2] Native mammals to the ecozone are black, brown and grizzly bears, grey wolves, coyotes and foxes, raccoons, squirrels, and other small mammals. Avian species include brown sparrow, hawks, crows, cardinals and bluejays. Fish are bass, trout, carp and pike. The Mixedwood Plains is made up of about 40% water, and contains over 20% of the worlds freshwater. One of the major problems in the world today is freshwater shortage. Because we have ample supply, we don’t notice, but much of the world is short on water. There are more water resources, but one of the largest is being quickly polluted and populated by invasive species .
This is just one of the places in which Elodea is being researched and observed as its overgrowth has led to many problems over the last few years. Additionally, it seems that Canadian Pondweed, or Elodea canadensis, was introduced to the UK accidentally through imported timber that was used for building railways. It is believed that Elodea attached itself to the timber and eventually led to a quick colonization of the United Kingdom’s waterways. It multiplied because its natural predators and pests were not present in this new habitat. As a result, Elodea flourished and became a nuisance to the passage of boats (Naylor). These examples predict a similar reaction if left untreated in the waters of our home, North America. This leads one to question what will happen to the fish and native plants and flora if Elodea is not
This invasive species came here from Europe in ballast tanks during the 1980’s. The water was taken onboard in ballast tanks of ships coming from Europe, and brought all the way here and dumped in our waters. Zebra mussels can be as small as sand grains before they grow, so they were easily transported here. (Guiberson 35) Ever since then, the zebra mussels have become a nuisance to native species, as well as factories, and also a huge threat to the ecosystem. (Harmful Aquatic
The algal growths in the lake feed on phosphorus mostly caused by fertilizer runoff from farms and local residences. Microcystin, a toxin that causes liver problems, is produced by the growths have caused major health concerns for wildlife and people using the lake. It is our moral obligation to clean up this mess or it will continue to harm the wildlife and environment in and the lake, as we are the one’s solely responsible for it. Organizations such as the Ohio EPA and Buckeye Lake for Tomorrow, have taken a notice to the pollution of Buckeye Lake and are formulating plans to return the lake to its former glory. Our plan is to provide a short term solution for the lake via the process of dredging, while a much larger and permanent solution is put in
By carelessly shifting around organisms, with their awesome genetic potential, we have caused major ecological disasters. Gone is the most important tree in the Northeast, the American Chestnut, our premier landscaping tree, the American Elm, and gone are huge tracts of productive fresh water marsh. Now these marshes contain only monocultures (only one species present) of purple loosestrife.
Latham, A., Wright, E., & Tsang, A. (n.d.). Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem: Introduction and Background. Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem: Introduction and Background. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section5group1/introduction_and_background
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.
The Monterey Bay Sea Otters There are a number of sea otters who are an important part of this world and they form a fairly large population and that is why it is felt that they should be preserved at all costs. They are an important source of earning for the people and they are also important in the sense that they provide an important source of earning to the people and their is an entire group of people who use this field as their source of earning. Besides the population of these otters keeps fluctuating and it has to be maintained because if the number fluctuate exponentially and if they get out of hand they can damage the ecological and the environmental balance of the world. Similarly the fishing and the killing of these otters can cause the damage to the balance because just like the excess of anything can cause a problem similarly the excess supply can cause a lot of major problem as well. These otters vary in sizes and this is an unchartered territory with a number of parasites who do vary in species and sizes and they all have their purposes and pros and cons and they impact our life and the balance of the world in a different manner. As the size varies so does the importance of the otters and the smaller ones might be innocuous while the larger ones can be the source of food as well and some of the larger species can also act as the predators and they act as a deterrent for the other species because they keep the check over the other species. They may pose a hazard of some type in some of the cases but their habitats and their productive cycles are all the things that need to be considered by us as human beings. Similarly their eating habits and appetites can alter and impact our world and our actions and reactions an...
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.
With the increased demands due to the large paycheck, this correlates to how well these poachers are actually doing their job. Over the years, research has estimated, “Approximately 100 million sharks are killed globally each year,” and also that, “some shark populations have decreased by 60-70% due to human shark fisheries,” (Fairclough 4). In addition to the increased rates of shark finning over the years, the low rate of reproduction within the shark population does not help their case. It causes a hardship in the species; not being able to replenish their numbers nowhere near the rate they are being diminished could lead to a rate of endangerment that wouldn’t be able to be reversed. Although at the rate that’s happening right now, it may be sooner than later. Multiple researches have come together at Planet Save to summarize the possible end result of sharks if tendencies were to keep up. With outnumbering death rates, and the huge boom in the market for shark fins, sharks could face extinction in a mere few decades. (Ayre 2). With over a dozen species already holding the label of endangerment, action needs to be taken now. Especially with such a small window for reproduction rates to pick up, they would need much more time than what they have now to get back to the point the rates were at almost two decades