Minnesota state officials have announced that ash trees infested with Emerald Ash Borer(EAB) beetles have been found in Minneapolis. This destructive insect pest had already been confirmed in St.Paul in 2009, so officials were not surprised to find that it had spread. A quarantine has been in place for much of the past year, restricting the movement of ash in and out of Hennepin and Ramsey counties. Minnesota has one of the largest concentrations of ash trees in the United States, making it particularly vulnerable. You can see a map here that shows where in Minnesota the EAB has been found, and can read more about how to detect or prevent the spread of this tree-killing pest in ARTiFactor's earlier post.
Tags : Soon you’ll catch a red-eye walleye.
in Life Science, Scientific Inquiry, and Biological Populations Change Over Time
Viral hemorrhagic septicemia: a fish infected with the virus
Courtesy Wikipedia imageNo… not a rock bass (even though it has a red iris). Nor any normal walleye you might be lucky enough to snag. This fish you might not even need to actually catch. It could be floating next to the boat along with most of the other fish in your favorite river, lake, or reservoir. That is if the dreaded VHS continues to spread and strike us deep in the land of 10,000 lakes. Move over zebra mussel, Eurasian milfoil, and the Asian carp, VHS is viral hemorrhagic septicemia and the latest migrant in the spread of invasive species.
Viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) is a virus. It is a small invading critter that can be quite infectious. Not all fish will show obvious signs. Those that do can exhibit hemorrhaging in the eyes, around the fins, or on the gills. Bloating, erratic behavior, bulging eyes, or even lesions could also be present. On the inside, the disease will attack the liver, kidneys, spleen or swim bladder. Those fish that do survive can still be infected and spread the disease. Blood, urine and even the reproductive fluids of infected fish can pass on the virus. Larger fish can get it from eating smaller infected fish.
Fish kill: sights like this are all the more possible with the new viral invader
Courtesy JoelDeluxe
The disease can be wide spread and is known to affect up to 28 different species of fish. Some of the fish kills have numbered in the tens of thousands. Many of our popular game fish are susceptible. Walleye, Northern Pike, Muskellunge, Smallmouth Bass, Perch, Crappies, Bluegills, Sheepshead and many others are on the list. Even some species of shiner bait fish have been found to carry the disease. While deadly for many fish, the disease is of no harm to humans. The warmth of our bodies is too hot for the virus to survive.
The virus has been known for many decades, but until recently was mainly a scourge of European fish farms. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia was first detected in American coastal waters in 1988, among the salmon populations of the Pacific Northwest. Then in 2005, tested fish showed up positive between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, and were confirmed in samples harvested two years earlier. Now, local news just recently reported on a Cornell study that found VHS diseased fish in the bay waters of the Duluth-Superior harbor on the western edges of Lake Superior. Make no mistake… the ‘bleeding fish’ disease is here at our doorstep.
Guests of the inland waterways will be reminded to be vigilant in safe boating and fishing practices by local resource managers. Be mindful not to transport fish, plants, or bait from one water body to another. Keep those live-wells empty, and dry or rinse that boat! It will fall upon all of us to remain vigilant. Let’s not allow this disease to become a crippling blow to our native fisheries. If we do, it is possible that we’ll witness many seasons of massive fish kills.
More good VHS information:
Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources
Alien, immigrant, visitor...: Whatever you want to call them, jaguars are not native to the US.
Courtesy Joachim S. Mueller
I’m not sure where to put this one. On the one hand, we’ve had a long discussion on the dangers of introducing non-native species into America’s wild habitats. That was about cheetahs; this is about jaguars; but the idea (a bad one) remains the same.
OTOH, Bryan wants us to keep track of scientific decisions made by the administration, to make sure they hold to the pledge made in Obama’s inaugural address to base scientific decisions on scientific observation and data. This story could certainly go there as well.
Since I can’t make up my mind, I may as well start a new thread:
Great Lakes fishing industry endangered
Asian carp
Courtesy kate.gardiner The commercial fishing industry in the Great Lakes, worth more than $7 billion a year, is threatened by Asian carp. Asian bighead (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and silver (H. molitrix) carp imported in 1970 to remove algae from catfish farms escaped into the Mississippi River during a flood. Since then they have outcompeted other fish. Along some stretches of the Illinois River, the carp make up 95 percent of the biomass. In December, the State of Michigan filed a lawsuit against the State of Illinois to close of locks between Chicago-area waterways and Lake Michigan.
"We cannot allow carp into the Great Lakes. It will destroy our Great Lakes fisheries, the economy," Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said in a prepared statement." New York Times
Supreme Court denies appeal to protect Great Lakes ecosystem
On Jan 19, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down Michigan's request to block Asian carp invasion of Great Lakes (Scientific American). The Supreme Court didn't reveal any of the reasoning behind its ruling, which simply read: "The motion for preliminary injunction is denied."
White House appeal
Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, is "asking for an immediate summit at the White House with the administration to shut down these locks, at least temporarily, until a permanent solution can be found.”
The AP reported the White House response to be:
“The Obama administration clearly understands the urgency of this critical issue, and we look forward to meeting with them on the threat the Asian carp poses to the Great Lakes.” Dayton Daily News
Dude, you're outta here: A growing hippo population in the South American country of Columbia is becoming a huge invasive species problem for the nation.
Courtesy AlexdiJust read an interesting report from about a huge, literally, invasive species problem in Columbia, South America. It seems that there's a growing population of hippos there, the offspring of four captive hippos that were once owned by drug lord Pablo Escobar. He had the hippos on his property as a defense mechanism against enemies. Escobar met his demise 16 years ago in drug violence, but his hippos have lived on, multiplied and moved off of his estate. The current population is estimated at about 28, with about six births occuring a year. That projects to about 100 non-native hippos being in Columbia in the next decade.
Government officials have offered the hippos free to any zoo or wildlife area that would like to claim them, but have had no takers. In the meantime, wildlife and Army officials have been "eliminating" the hippos found the wild determining that they're an invasive species that can alter the balance of nature in that region of the world. Animal enthusiasts in Columbia, however, are irate that such drastic measures are being taken. Some are even calling for the firing of Columbia's environmental minister.
Here's a National Geographic report on the situaion.
So what do you think should be done about this situation? Do you want to be the one to tell the hippos they've got to move back to Africa?
A Zebra Mussel
Courtesy USGSInvasive species are getting to be more and more in the news lately, both nationally. Emerald ash borers, Eurasian watermilfoil, Asian lady beetles, zebra mussels, buckthorn and silver carp, just to name a very few, pose significant environmental and economic risks. But, they are a fact of life now, sadly, and its up to all of us to make sure we slow their inevitable spread as much as possible.
Zebra mussels have been recently discovered in four more Minnesota lakes – Lake Prior (Scott County), Pike Lake (near Duluth), Le Homme Dieu (Alexandria) and Rebecca (near Hastings) bringing the total number of lakes confirmed with zebra mussels in Minnesota up to 10. Eurasian watermilfoil is gaining ground too, recently discovered in Lake Florida, near Spicer.
As a result of the spread of these invasive species, the Minnesota DNR is stepping up its enforcement efforts. And while the DNR is doing its best, the message they want to get out is that its really up to everyone who spends time on a lake to stop their spread.
On a side note, the Cambridge Field Research Laboratory for the New York State Museum is researching a way to kill zebra mussels with natural bacteria. The bacteria treatment has to date not been tested in a lake, but has been successfully tested in water intakes at power plants. Once the treatment gets EPA approval, it will be tested in lakes, probably in a year or so.
Emerald Ash Borer
Courtesy USDAI went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this morning with my mom and daughter. Arboretums are awesome in general, but especially this time of year when all the spring blooms are in full effect. It was fun. One bit of news I learned while I was there was a bit of a bummer though, the Emerald Ash Borer has been found in Minnesota.
Minnesota has more ash trees than any other kind of tree and has the second highest number of ash trees in the nation after Maine.
The Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive species that is native to Asia that was first discovered in the US in Michigan in 2002. The adult borers are not very harmful to trees, but the larvae are very harmful, eating the underside of the tree's bark and disrupting the flow of water and nutrients.
Many ash trees were planted to replace trees lost to Dutch Elm Disease in cities and towns, which was the big tree disease when I was a kid. Interestingly, Dutch Elm Disease was also spread by an invasive Asian beetle, though in the case of Dutch Elm it was a fungus the beetles spread that was harmful to the trees, not the beetles themselves. With over 7.5 billion ash trees in the US the Emerald Ash Beetle has the potential to be far more destructive. The good news is that the borers seem to spread slowly - but the bad news is that when a tree is infested it is usually dead within a year.
To learn more about the Emerald Ash Borer, follow the links in this blog. Click here to learn how to identify the Emerald Ash Borer.
Cargo ships carry invasive species in ballst water
Courtesy AviatorDave A recently released report warns that the Great Lakes have been invaded by foreign aquatic species resulting in ecological and environmental damage amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Monitor, detect, and take required action
The findings support the need for detection and monitoring efforts at those ports believed to be at greatest risk. The report identified 30 nonnative species that pose a medium or high risk of reaching the lakes and 28 others that already have a foothold and could disperse widely.
The National Center for Environmental Assessment issued the warning in a study released (Jan 5, 09). It identified 30 nonnative species that pose a medium or high risk of reaching the lakes and 28 others that already have a foothold and could disperse widely. (click here to access report)
Flush out ship's ballast tanks with salt water
One preventive measure that works 99% of the time is to flush out the ballast tanks with salty sea water. This usually kills any foreign marine life hitch hiking a ride in the ballast tank water. Both Canada and the United States have made this a requirement for almost two decades now. Both nations also recently have ordered them to rinse empty tanks with seawater in hopes of killing organisms lurking in residual pools on the bottom.
Learn more about invasive species in the Great Lakes
- Great Lakes Facing Wide Alien Species Invasion" Discovery.com
- National Center for Environmental Assessment (EPA) report
- Great Lakes and "Invasive Species" pages on EPA website
Pig in a poke: Oops, the hunt for a wild boar ends up in the slaying of a pot-bellied pig
The Minnesota State Fair opens tomorrow and you'll have 12 days to eat pork chops on a stick. Minnesota DNR officials, however, were hoping some lucky hunter will track down and kill a wild boar that's running loose near Detroit Lakes. Read this to learn more, including the devastating consequences a wild pig can inflict on the environment. But there's more to the story, which was updated while I was making this post. It shots were fired, the pork-esque creature was killed and this is what it turned out to be.
I have to admit I've never heard of the Emerald Ash Borer. You can read more here to see why we're being asked to check any wooden planters we may have recently purchased. The little bugs that might be hiding in them aren't native here and could cause big havoc for our local ash trees.
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