Aquatic invasive species are non-native plants and animals that disrupt ecosystems, harm wildlife, and impact recreation. Learn how they spread, the problems they cause, and safe methods for control and management.
Elodea is a plant commonly found in aquariums that, if released in the wild, will dominate certain lake or river habitats, choking out native vegetation and altering the food web at all levels. It increases sedimentation rate, allowing more sediment to settle out of the water. And it can decrease the dissolved oxygen concentration in
Lake Hallie Lake Association is making some headway in the war they’ve been waging against the hybrid watermilfoil weed. First discovered in Lake Hallie in 2005, watermilfoil is an invasive aquatic plant that has an aggressive tendency to form a thick mat-like layer as it floats on the water. If left unchecked, this plant can
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is aiming to reduce invasive plant species in Lake Whitehall in a plan that calls for herbicides and mechanical harvesting. The reservoir has extensive growth of “exotic nuisance aquatic vegetation,” including fanwort and variable-leaf milfoil, according to a report by ESS Group, a firmed hired by the state.
Aquarius Systems was featured on a National Geographic Cable Channel program broadcast in the United States on April 2nd and 5th, 2003. The Swamp Devil Aquatic Vegetation Cutter (formerly known as the Cookie Cutter) has been used on Lake Victoria since 1998 to help control dense mats of water hyacinth. A film crew from National
Fall has barely begun and the Lakes Area community is already preparing for next year’s battle against the invasive curlyleaf pondweed. The weed caused navigational issues on the lake this past season as it clogged boat motors and jammed dock lifts. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, local government entities, area protective agency representatives and
An aquatic weed believed to be salvinia molesta, which grew only along the shoreline in January, has multiplied so fast it now covers the entire surface of the water at Lakewood residential community, Pemulwuy, Australia. The lake and its surrounds were home to an abundance of wildlife including ducks, pelicans and a pair of black
Not even a historic week of freezing temperatures and record-setting snowfall last month could mitigate some of the toughest and most threatening invasive species known to central Texas, biologists from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department say. While many of native Texas wildlife were injured or killed by the winter weather, some invasive critters such
Center Lake and Clearwater Lake Association are trying to combat the starry stonewort with and aquatic weed harvester this summer. In an effort to use fewer chemicals in this Missouri lake, a weed harvester will be used on most of the lake to cut and remove the starry stonewort and the algae. Aquatic herbicides will
While invasive zebra mussels consume small plant-like organisms called phytoplankton, Michigan State University researchers discovered during a long-term study that zebra mussels can actually increase Microcystis, a type of phytoplankton known as “blue-green algae” or cyanobacteria, that forms harmful floating blooms. Zebra mussels can filter out the Microcystis with other particles, but then they spit