Where did quagga mussel come from? Quagga mussels are native to the Dneiper River drainage of Ukraine. They most likely arrived in the ballast water of ocean going ships. The quagga mussel was first sighted in the Great Lakes in September 1989. Why is it a problem? Quagga are prodigious water filterers, thus removing Read more about Quagga Mussel[…]
Sped up 10 times, this video emphasizes that quagga mussels are active animals–much more active than washed up shells on a beach would suggest. Quagga mussels and zebra mussels feed by filtering tiny plant and animal plankton out of the water and extracting the nutrients they need. Material they don’t digest is wrapped in mucus Read more about Quagga Mussels Feeding–Sped Up 10x[…]
The tiny quagga mussel has an outsize impact on Lake Michigan. What’s novel about the study team’s work is the exploration of the age-old biological truth: what goes in must come out. They found the invasive mussels’ sheer numbers and feeding efficiency are changing the lake’s ecosystem dynamics. Perhaps the climate, as well.
Episode 18, June 16, 2021 Moss balls and mystery seeds Transcript In Moss balls and mystery seeds, we dive deep into two news stories that involved some unexpected international hitchhikers. In the summer of 2020, individuals all over the United States started receiving random packages of unsolicited and unidentified seeds. Why was this happening? Were Read more about Moss balls and mystery seeds[…]
Zebra and quagga mussels have dramatically changed the ecology of the Great Lakes. Learn about the impact they are having on the historical underwater treasures in Lake Michigan using a story map created for us by Great Lakes educator, Perry Smith, a 4th grade teacher at the Arbor Vitae-Woodruff Elementary School in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin. Read more about Lake Michigan Shipwrecks and Aquatic Invasive Species[…]
Recently published findings in the journal Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, of the Association for the Science of Limnology and Oceanography, shed light on what spiny waterfleas are eating in Lake Michigan.
Wisconsin Historical Society archaeologists will lead the effort.
According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 40 years of reduced mercury use, emissions, and loading in the Great Lakes region have largely not produced equivalent declines in the amount of mercury accumulating in large game fish.
Three Wisconsin teachers will join a dozen others from around the Great Lakes on a week-long research cruise in July on Lake Erie with scientists aboard the Environmental Protection Agency’s R/V Lake Guardian. Hear how two of them are bringing their experiences from an educational cruise on an historic ship to their experience aboard this more modern ship.
Lake Michigan, the world’s fifth largest lake, has undergone many changes through the generations. Its current conditions are heavily influenced by the arrival of nonnative Dreissenid mussels known as zebra and quagga mussels. These filter feeders are altering the amount of phosphorus available for phytoplankton throughout the lake, which has an effect all the way Read more about Measuring the Pulse of Lake Michigan[…]