Other Observations on Mussel Impacts

From June 28, 1990 (update #2)

The widely reported observation that the waters of the western basin of Lake Erie were clearer last summer than in recent years due to filtering by zebra mussels may have another explanation unrelated to zebra mussels, according to a paper presented by Ohio State University scientists Lin Wu and David Culver at the annual meeting of the American Society of Limnology & Oceanography June 11-15 in Williamsburg, Va. Wu and Culver measured the grazing rates of large water fleas (Daphnia galeata mendotae) in the western basin during the summers of 1988 and 1989, and found that increased grazing on algae by these animals in 1989 could account for the increase in water clarity. They reported that Daphnia and other large zooplankton can account for most of the open-water algal grazing activity in Lake Erie. They and other Ohio State investigators plan to continue to explore the potential water-clearing abilities of both zebra mussels and Daphnia this summer.

ID: 19900628-8.

The Zebra Mussel Update was a 4- to 8-page quarterly national newsletter published by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute from May 1990 through May 1997. The ZMU documented the spread of the zebra mussel -- an exotic nuisance mussel -- through North America's freshwater environments, especially the Great Lakes, and on efforts to control it.