Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Records: between Point Pelee and Erieau/Ontario/Lake Erie (4-11/1986, Carlton 2008); offshore between Longpoint and Port Colborne/Ontario/Lake Erie (4-11/1986, Carlton 2008)
Geographic Extent
Ontario/Lake St. Clair, southern portion on the lake (1988, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic species program 2012); Ruthven, Union Water Treatment Plant (4.8 km east of Kingsville)/Ontaro/Lake Erie (summer 1987, Carlton 2008); Kingsville/Ontario/Lake Erie (summer 1987, Carlton 2008, on commercial fishing boat); between Point Pelee and Erieau/Ontario/Lake Erie (4-11/1986, Carlton 2008); Monroe/MI/Lake Erie (1988, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2008); OH/Sandusky Bay, Lake Erie (1988, Center for Aquatic Resource Studies 2008); Erie/PA/Lake Erie (1989, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2012); Palmyra/NY/Erie Canal (1990, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2008); offshore between Longpoint and Port Colborne/Ontario/Lake Erie (4-11/1986, Carlton 2008)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Alternate | Ballast Water |
Regional Impacts
| Economic Impact | Industry | |
| Fouling of natural gas wellheads by zebra mussels, off Ontario, in Lake Erie, caused maintenance problems by 1990 (Carlton 2008). Zebra Mussels caused extensive fouling of the Detroit Edison's Monroe, MI coal-fired power plant at the western end of Lake Erie. Mussels covered the intake surfaces, blocked the trash bars, and fouled the condenser tubes. The fouled parts of the plants were cleaned with high-pressure water at a cost of $25,000-35,000 for each cleaning. Service water lines for fire-protection systems were also fouled, and cleared with chlorination, but regular use is limited by environmental concerns (Kovalak et al. 1993). | ||
| Economic Impact | Health | |
| The city of Windsor, Ontario, spent between $CAN 400,000-450,000 on charcoal filtration of water from Lake St. Clair, to control taste and odor problems after the Zebra Mussel invasion (Colautti et al. 2006). A similar case of fouling in the intakes of the Monroe, MI public water-filtration plant reduced the supply of raw water by 20% by the summer of 1989. Several outages and water emergencies in the city of Monroe occurred. Mechanical cleaning and chlorination was required to clear the pipes and maintain water flow. Estimated costs for this episode of fouling were $US 300,000 (LePage 1993). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Trophic Cascade | |
| Zebra Mussels have profoundly affected the food web and nutrient budget of Lake Erie. Because this lake is shallow, and is surrounded by cities and agricultural land, with high nutrient inputs, the addition of a large biomass of benthic suspension-feeders has had dramatic impacts. Dreissenid mussels remove an estimated 25% of the phytoplankton biomass per day, and excrete large quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus into the water column. The low nitrogen-to-phosporus ratio of the excreted nutrients favors the growth of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, such as blooms formed by Microcystis spp. Conroy and Culver (2005) argue that the mussels slow the transfer of nutrients between trophic levels, decreasing the resilience of the system to disturbances. | ||
| Ecological Impact | Herbivory | |
| Dreissenid mussels remove an estimated 25% of the phytoplankton biomass per day (Edwards et al., 2004, cited by Conroy and Culver 2005). In the western basin of Lake Erie, average chlorophyll a concentrations declined by 43% from 1988 to 1989, with the onset of the Zebra Mussel invasion (Leach 1993). Filtration by Zebra Mussels was selective- mussels ingested small, desirable flagellates, while rejecting large colonies of toxic Microcystis cyanobacteria in western Lake Erie water (Vanderploeg et al. 2001). Reduction in chlorophyl a and increased light penetration, since the onset of the dreissenid invasions, was also seen in the eastern basin of Lake Erie (North et al. 2012). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Habitat Change | |
| After the invasion of Lake St. Clair, the abundance and diversity of macrobenthos increased. Water clarity increased, and macrophytes (Potamogeton sp., Vallisneria americana, and Elodea canadensis) and filamentous algae became abundant (Griffiths 1992). In the western basin of Lake Erie, Secchi disk depth (an estimate of transparency) increased by 85% from 1988 to 1989 (Leach 1993). Although the light conditions and substrate of the lakes rocky reefs had been greatly altered, no change was seen in the spawning of Walleye (Sander vitreum), an important commercial and sport fish (Leach 1993). The introduced amphipod Echinogammarus ischnus was strongly associated with dreissenid mussels, mostly D. polymorpha (Kang et al. 2007) | ||
| Ecological Impact | Food/Prey | |
| Diving ducks of several species (mostly Greater and Lesser Scaup, Athya marila, A. affinis) appeared in large flocks in late fall and early spring at Point Pelee, Ontario in 1991-1992. Caging experiments indicated that they sharply reduced Zebra Mussel abundance, but these effects disappeared in a few months. Ice cover prevented predation in winter (Hamilton et al. 1994). Round Gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) in the Detroit River fed largely on Zebra Mussels. The size and numbers of mussels eaten were proportional to the length of the fish (Ray and Corkum 1997). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
| In the western basin of Lake Erie, Presque Isle Bay, and Lake St. Clair, fouling by Zebra Mussels was reported to cause declines of 89-100% in native Unionid mussels (Schloesser et al. 1996; Ricciardi et al. 1998). | ||
| Ecological Impact | Parasite/Predator Vector | |
| Dreissena polymorpha was found to be an important host for trematode parasites, including the cosmopolitan Echinoparyphium recurvatum which can cause fatal infections in waterfowl (Karatayev et al. 2012). | ||