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GLERL What's New: 1999
Great Lakes Environmental Research
Laboratory
Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series
Dr. Hugh MacIsaac
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research
University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
"Eurasian Species Invasions into the Great Lakes"
Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series
Dr. Hugh MacIsaac
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research
University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
"Eurasian Species Invasions into the Great Lakes"
Location: Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2945
Date: Tuesday, November 17th, 1999
Time: 10:30-11:30 am
Room: 105 (Main Conference Room)
ABSTRACT: The Great Lakes have been invaded by at least 140 species, many of which now dominate production and biomass. Seventy percent of invaders that have established in the lakes during the past 15 years are native to the Ponto-Caspian region (Black, Azov and Caspian Seas) despite relatively little ballast water input from this area. Ponto-Caspian species enter the Great Lakes directly via ports on the Black and Azov Seas, or indirectly from other European ports that have been previously invaded. The water flea Cercopagis pengoi, the most recent addition to the Great Lakes fauna, was first observed during summer 1998 in Lake Ontario, though it has since spread to the Finger Lakes in New York, and to Lake Michigan. Bythotrephes, a related zooplankton which invaded from the Baltic Sea region during the 1980's, is now found in 39 inland lakes around the Great Lakes. We developed a model to predict Bythotrephes occurrence in European lakes, and then applied the model to predict occurrence in North America. The model accurately predicted presence/absence in European lakes, and presence in North American ones. However, it incorrectly predicted occurrence in 74% of reference lakes in Ontario that presently lack Bythotrephes. Results indicate that many additional lakes are vulnerable to invasion. Our work indicates that humans serve as vectors for many acquatic species introductions, and that activities responsible for these invasions must be curtailed to prevent many more invasions by Eurasian species. More generally, we may utilize patterns of species invasions in the Great Lakes and western Europe to critically explore species invasions theory.
For further information, please contact:
Steve Brandt
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2945
734-741-2244
stephen.b.brandt@noaa.gov
Last updated: September 19, 2002 mbl