 |
 |
       |
 |
Strategic plan targets invasive species
The Superior Daily Telegram (11/17)
Douglas County’s Land Conservation Committee is forwarding a plan to the county board that takes aim at invasive species.
Mich. Clean Marina Program: Public-private partners work together to improve water quality
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/9)
Partners from the public and private sector in Michigan are working together in a voluntary program to improve the quality of the Great Lakes.
Researchers seek funding for wind test site in Lake Michigan
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/7)
In a recent article in The Muskegon Chronicle, it was reported that researchers at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) cited a lack of year-around data (on wind platform testing) needed by prospective development companies.
COMMENTARY: Senate needs to pass clean energy act to help Michigan
The Grand Rapids Press (10/26)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was absolutely correct with his recent proclamation about the current condition of the Great Lakes State: "The State of Michigan," Reid declared from the Senate Floor, with a copy Time Magazine in his hand, "is in trouble."
First Nation women 'walk the environmental talk'
WeNews (10/23)
Tomorrow's global day of climate activism aims for media and political attention. First Nation women have another way. Since 2003, they've walked the shoreline of a Great Lake or major river, meditating on the needs of an unborn generation.
City making big push for water school
The Business Journal (10/23)
The push is on to convince the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that the best location for its new School of Freshwater Sciences is near the university’s existing Great Lakes Water Institute on East Greenfield Avenue.
What's going on in your neighborhood this month? Meet other people and learn together at recreational and educational events! Our new dynamic calendar is updated daily with current educational events.
Introduction
The Zebra Mussel
Other species making headlines
How do invasive species get here?
Prevention and control
How can you prevent the spread of nonindigenous species?
References and more information
If you live on the Great Lakes or in a similar coastal area, you've no doubt heard of zebra mussels or sea lamprey. Chances are you've also seen patches of purple loosestrife growing in your community or on the side of a local highway. You might not have recogized this attractive flowering plant as a non-native species, but it is. Although pretty to look at, these purple stalks are choking out native plant species by overtaking and altering their habitat.
These are just three of the more than 140 nonindigenous, or invasive, species that have become established in and around the Great Lakes since the 1800s. In fact, due in large part to increases in the volume of shipping traffic, the introduction of new "exotic" species has increased dramatically over the past 50 years. More than 87 nonindigenous aquatic species have been accidentally introduced into the Great Lakes in the 20th Century alone. Once introduced, invasive species must be managed and controlled, as they are virtually impossible to eradicate.
While many non-native species have no serious ecological impact, the introduction of a single key species can, as in the example of the sea lamprey, cause a sudden and dramatic shift in the entire ecosystem's structure. New species can significantly change the interactions between existing species (and between those species and their non-living environment), creating ecosystems that are unstable and unpredictable.
Graphic: Sea Lamprey shown attached to a lake trout. Courtesy U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
