Pacific Northwest seaplane pilots have pioneered a program that would allow pilots to perform their own invasive species inspections prior to landing in another state’s waters rather than requiring state or federal inspectors to perform the examination. Participants watch an educational video, take an accompanying quiz, and pocket a completion certificate. The course describes how
Lake Shawnee has been identified time and again as one of the most idyllic locations in Shawnee County, Kansas, leading county commissioners to invest heavily in the area in recent years with new walking paths and other features. But maintaining that beauty, and more importantly, what’s under the water, can be challenging and at times
From the Great Pacific garbage patch to inland rivers, plastics are among the most widespread contaminants on Earth. Microplastics—particles of plastic smaller than five millimeters—are especially pervasive. As they build up in Earth’s waters, microplastics are also becoming a permanent part of the planet’s sedimentary layers. Now, using the Great Lakes as a laboratory, sedimentary
A common aquarium plant illegally dumped into Alaskan waters that has adapted to cold weather could threaten wild salmon habitat and cost the commercial fishing industry hundreds of millions of dollars. A recent study conducted by ISER, the Institute of Social and Economic Research, found that if not managed, the cost of the elodea invasion
A recent increase in aquatic vegetation in Wheeler Reservoir in Alabama has anglers smiling, but local skiers, pleasure boaters and homeowners see the weeds as a menace. Tennessee Valley Authority officials said they are hearing lots of complaints from homeowners and boaters about the hydrilla, eel grass, star grass and milfoil up and down the
It’s only found in 14 Minnesota lakes at this point, but starry stonewort has the potential to cause lots of harm, and fast. Recent research shows that the macroalgae has the potential to be the high-impact invader in Minnesota lakes that many already fear it is. It warrants the high prioritization that public agencies and
In the first study of its kind, an Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)-led research team estimates that more than 560,000 hermit crabs have been killed on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean and the Henderson Island in the Pacific after being trapped in plastic debris. The study was carried out by
We realize this article is about terrestrial weeds, but can’t help but make the connection to aquatic plants and the need to have many options in the lake management plan. When weeds begin showing resistance, it’s not a case of the herbicide changing the weed, it’s a simple “survival of the fittest” case, according to
Across the warming globe, a mass exodus of tens of thousands of species is transforming the distribution of biodiversity — and challenging fundamental tenets in conservation policy and science. In recent years, scientists have documented countless species shifting their ranges toward the poles, higher into the mountains, and deeper into the seas in response to
There are two main invasive weeds in Lake Guntersville, hydrilla and milfoil. Neither plants are native to the lake. In fact it’s believed that milfoil entered the Tennessee River system by someone dumping a home aquarium in the Watts Bar Lake, upriver from Lake Guntersville. Tennessee Valley Authority allowed the news media to see how