The culprit turned out to be the quagga mussel, an invasive species which is consuming five to seven times as much phytoplankton as is being produced in parts of Lake Michigan, reports Michigan Tech News. Phytoplankton is at the base of the food chain, with small fish and larger fish (such as Atlantic salmon) and fish-eating birds progressively above it.

Consider that the quagga mussels can be found in parts of Lake Michigan in concentrations of 10,000 to 15,000 per square meter, and have ravenous appetites. They eat the Phytoplankton and create lots of mussel poop which in turn helps grow Cladophora algae. The algae die, decompose and remove all the oxygen from the water. Lake animals die without oxygen, and the dead animals kill fish-eating birds through botulism, the often-fatal food poisoning.

People have been worried about what might happen when the Asian carp, with its appetite for plankton, reaches Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes fishery is worth $7 billion annually, reports freep.com. Without plankton, the fish will disappear, so efforts are being made to stop the Asian carp’s advancement. The only problem is that the quagga mussel has beaten the carp to the buffet table.

If you’d like to read more about the quagga mussel, Bayview Compass.com also has an interesting article.

Hawaii has about 20 types of non-native algae, two of which are especially destructive, grow quickly, and destroy the coral and reef diversity.  When volunteers removing the algae by hand failed to keep pace with the algae, scientists started using a “Super Sucker” – a vacuum with a 100-foot hose that can remove up to 360 kilograms of algae every hour from the reef.

Asian carp, with their voracious appetite, have been found in the Illinois River, which connects the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan, says the EPA.  Since 2004, the EPA has worked with several other organizations to install and maintain electric barriers to stop the carp from advancing.  Perhaps efforts should also target the carps’ skittishness, their only known weakness.  When they hear a sound such as a boat motor, the carp jump out of the water, thereby granting, at least in my mind, an opportunity to spear, shoot, net, or somehow kill/capture them.

Sometimes the solution is in the invader’s new environment. When baby Cane Toads meet a meat-eating ant, the toads just freeze.  In Australia, cat food is used to attract the ants to a certain pond, and in a test study the ants attacked 98% of the toads. 70% of the baby toads died.

Occasionally invasive species can provide a useful service.  Hawaiian and Galápagos Island vegetation is being stripped by unrestrained goats. Meanwhile, a Puget Sound business is “renting” out a herd of goats to consume voracious invasive plants including the English Ivy, Scotch Broom, Himalayan Blackberry, and Japanese Knotweed.  A herd of 120 goats can clear an acre in 6 to 14 days, depending on how dense the brush is.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Agriculture uses dogs to sniff out Brown Tree Snakes from crates in Guam which are heading for other islands.  Since the snake’s arrival, nine native Guam bird species have disappeared, and the two remaining species are nearing extinction.  The snakes also bite humans and cause frequent small blackouts.  Perhaps the dogs should be used in the forests as well.

It’s great to read that scientists are using some creative methods to win the battle over invasive species.  In time, more such solutions will be thought up, hopefully in time to save native species that are being threatened by the invaders.