Invasive Species

The long-time monitoring and tracking of trends in primary producers, pelagic crustaceans, and benthic macroinvertebrates in the Great Lakes continues as a means to measure and forecast food web dynamics due to outside influences, such as invasive species. Related to this work, investigators are also trying to identify the role of pathogens in the disappearance of an important food source for fish, Diporeia, and how this relates to invasive zebra and quagga mussel presence in the Great Lakes.

• To support NOAA’s missions related to invasive species, the objectives for this research theme are:
• To identify high-risk pathways in order to reduce the risk of future invasive species introductions into the Great Lakes region.
• To support research developing new technologies to reduce the risk of invasive species introductions.
• To develop observational and experimental research programs to detect new invaders and assess the status and impacts of current invasive species.
• To help coordinate research related to invasive species in the Great Lakes region.
• To continually manage the Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System (GLANSIS), a database of invasive species information gained from research.