Mussels and Money
When you think of the damage caused
by invasive species, you think of the damage done to the ecosystem and the loss
of biodiversity, but there’s much more damage that is caused by these foreign
invaders to our economy and production. Dreissena polymorpha, the zebra mussel, have flooded the water
ways of the United States in the last 32 years taking over lakes and rivers and
clogging pipes and latching onto boats. D. polymorpha, is a relatively
small mussel that originates from the Caspian Sea in Western Asia; they breed
relatively quickly and fully mature in just over a year, this paired with the
fact that they are an r-selected means that they’re populations can skyrocket
in the matter of a decade.
They’re
populations have grown so much that they have begun to impact production along
lakes and rivers that are infested. Pipes have started to be completely full if
not partially blocked by their hard shells. Because of how incredibly wide
spread these mussels have become it’s incredibly hard to control the continuous
spread into other water ways. There are certain pesticides that do work on D.
polymorpha, but these pesticides
also work on myriad of other freshwater mollusk species. This causes the use of
these pesticides to be confined to areas not openly connected to rivers and
lakes, because of this people have had to invest in other forms of treatment
and control. According to this article, Modeling invasive activity: Zebra mussels' infiltration of North American rivers,
Americans spend over $1 billion a year on controlling these mussels. This
number doesn’t consider the overall damage to things like boats and pipe
systems that also costs millions of dollars every year to fix.
In
recent studies mentioned in the article, the ability of D. polymorpha, to
travel up stream was tested, and it was found that overall it is possible under
the right conditions for these invaders to move into other lakes and water ways
which could prove catastrophic for the affected ecosystems. This would most
likely also increase the overall amount needed to be spent on removal and control
of the mussels. To stop this invasion from happening new methods of control
have to be developed as the techniques used now are not effective enough and
are too dangerous to use in such fragile environments.
Posted by Francis Hoey (2)
This is an interesting yet alarming situation! I think it is really important to bring awareness to this and situation as well as others that immediately impact our life as humans. I think that a lot of people "don't care" to learn about biology, but there are many events such as this that directly impact us and require the general public to care! I know that the effects of these mussels are very detrimental to our economy, but are there do they have any positive effects? Are they fished for and sold?
ReplyDeletePosted by Jamie Downer
Yes, we absolutely need more awareness about invasive species, as they destroy such valuable habitat for so many native organisms. But, to your question if they're fished for a positive use, they are not because they feed on toxic plankton and algae which accumulate in there systems, making them harmful for humans to eat.
DeleteWow I can't believe I've never heard of this species before! How did they get here if they are native to Western Asia? What else can we do to stop this species? Are the species in anyway beneficial or completely harmful all around?
ReplyDeletePosted by Danielle Bermingham
Didn't realize that zebra mussels were causing this much damage widespread. Any idea of any steps being taken to prevent the mussels from becoming even more widespread?
ReplyDeletePosted by Josha Cruz
It is crazy to think how much damage an invasive species can cause and how much they can change an environment. Even though the zebra mussels are so small they cause a huge impact because of how easy the population can skyrocket. Even though it is risky could it be possible to introduce or find a predator to these mussels that could help control there population size?
ReplyDeletePosted by "Edwin Montecinos"
Every species has a downstream effect when it attaches to a new environment, but this is so unbelievably destructive! It's neat to see how nature works in ways that aren't always producing order and peace for the environment and surrounding species.
ReplyDeleteposted by Andrew Davis
DeleteThe fact that there is an invasive species that causes over a billion dollars in damages in the USA is distressing! Not only is that a major waste of funds but situations like this should be prevented in the first place. Is there anyway that we can create pesticides that act strictly on the specific species? Is there any hope to containing this rapid growth without destroying the environment?
ReplyDeletePosted by "Chorryi Chin"
Pesticides targeting these mussels are just like antibiotics, they don't discriminate between the good and the bad, they just destroy all of it. This is so ironic because common characteristics of invasives are competitive advantages over others leading to their success and others' downfall. Because the survival of these mussels is so strong, they will probably be least affected by the targeting pesticides, and thus humanity's efforts will only align with the biological purpose of the mussels. Can you elaborate on how the mussels are destroying the ecosystem beyond just their proliferation, and what an r-selected is?
ReplyDeletePosted by "Takoda Nordoff"
You're completely right about the pesticides making things worse especially for the native species. When you wipe out entire areas with a pesticide you also wipe out the all the competition for that area, meaning species that have a greater ability to rapidly takeover these areas will have a higher likelihood to succeed. Mostly the Zebra mussels will out compete the native mussels for nutrients and space, almost suffocating the ecosystem of all life that isn't the mussel. An r-selected species is one that puts more resources into making many very small eggs that are dispersed into the environment with no further care from the parents vs k-selected which have few larger offspring that the parents put more energy into raising.
DeleteFrancis Hoey
DeleteI feel as though it's possible to "control" anything that happens in the environment anymore, because it is so hard to get EVERYBODY on board, there will always be that one person who cares more about money or power and refuse to do anything that may help the environment. Even when they are aware they disasters may cost them much more to fix, people will still do whatever for the better for themselves in the moment.
ReplyDelete-Han Nguyen