Zebra Mussels

Zebra Mussels

Zebra mussels are a stark example of the explosive growth potential of non-native species. Zebra mussels were first discovered in the Great Lakes in the 1960s. Just one year after introduction, their population was estimated at densities of 35,000 per square yard (30,000 per square meter). Many scientists now consider the ecosystem changes caused by zebra mussels to be more significant than the changes caused by nutrient and toxic loadings combined.

The native distribution of the species is the Black Sea and Caspian Sea in Eurasia.They are believed to have been transported to the Great Lakes via ballast water from a transoceanic vessel. The ballast water, taken on in a freshwater European port was subsequently discharged into Lake St. Clair, near Detroit, where the mussel was discovered in 1988. Since that time, they have spread rapidly to all of the Great Lakes and waterways in many states, as well as Ontario and Quebec.

They disrupt the ecosystems by monotypic colonization, and damage harbors and waterways, ships and boats, and water treatment and power plants. Water treatment plants were initially hit hardest because the water intakes brought the microscopic free-swimming larvae directly into the facilities.Zebra mussels have had extensive economic impacts. According to a 1995 Ohio Sea Grant study, large water users on the Great Lakes spend an annual average of $350,000 to $400,000 per user just to clear zebra mussels from their intake pipes. The mussels are also affecting the tourism industry, as their sharp-shell remnants clutter beaches and are encrusting historically significant shipwrecks throughout the Great Lakes. Quagga mussels, a near relative of the infamous zebra mussel, are able to survive in deeper waters and different sediment types, effectively expanding the infestation to new areas of the lakes.

Concerns:
When an invasive species enters an ecosystem, it can have an impact on the species that are present, on important habitats, or even on the ecosystem itself. Concern arises when an invasive species changes the system for the worse, either by reducing or eliminating populations of native species, or by otherwise changing the way the ecosystem works.
These changes have made the invasion of alien species a major global problem. If organisms were not able to move beyond their normal ranges, each part of the world would have a unique array of plants, animals, and micro-organisms. But as species move from one area of the world to another, sometimes squeezing out the competition, different places in the world become more alike in their biology.

Slowing the spread:
The problem of invasive species is so large that it cannot be properly dealt with unless groups and countries work together to monitor the progress of invasive species and come up with solutions. Experts from many countries are now cooperating on programs like the Global Invasive Species Program to help develop a worldwide plan to deal with this problem.

In Canada, a comprehensive national plan to address the threat of invasive species, including invasive aquatic and terrestrial animal and plant species, is now being developed through the collaboration of federal, provincial, and territorial governments. In addition, many government and nongovernment groups run projects to monitor and control invasive alien species. For example, Environment Canada’s EcoAction program supports community projects across the country to monitor and eradicate Zebra mussels and other invasive species.

Make a decision:
To get away from the zebra mussels its really hard because they procriate really fast, but one thing is to tr to get these species away from the lakes and rvers where they are, some way other than poisoning the water, try to clean the water from the Zebra mussels as much as possible.

Eastern Wolf

Eastern Wolf Description:
The eastern wolf is a smaller form of the gray wolf. Recent genetic analyses have shown that it contains both red wolf and coyote genes. It has a fawn-coloured pelt with long black hairs on the back and sides, and a reddish colour behind the ears. Adult males weigh between 25 and 35 kg, (55 to 80 lbs) and females weigh between 20 and 30 kg, (40 to 66 lbs).

Population and Distribution of the Eastern Wolf:
The Eastern wolf once occupied a range throughout eastern North America as far north as the Great Lakes. Due to habitat loss, and deliberate attempts to exterminate wolves throughout their range over more than a century, Eastern wolves were eliminated in most of their historical range. Today they occupy a narrow band stretching from the Gulf of St Lawrence to southeastern Manitoba. The exact boundaries of this range are still poorly defined. However, wolves are seldom seen any great distance south of Algonquin or Gatineau parks.

The eastern wolf is found mainly in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence regions of Quebec and Ontario. Its current range covers approximately 210,000 km2, which represents 42 % of its original range in Canada. Its distribution and taxonomic classification (whether it is a species or a sub-species) are currently under review. The number of eastern wolves is estimated at 2,000 individuals, 1,000 of which are breeding adults, spread among 500 packs. The highest population densities are found in southwestern Quebec and southeastern Ontario, particularly in Algonquin Park. Although the species has disappeared from the more populated, southern portions of its range, and although some local populations are being hunted at unsustainable levels, the species’ overall abundance seems to have remained relatively stable over the past decade.

Threats:
The Eastern Wolf has disappeared from all of southern Ontario largely as a result of forest clearance and farmland development, and the subsequent loss of habitat. Wolves live in packs and require relatively large areas of unbroken forest. Wolves can be hunted in Ontario year-round and it is estimated that hunters kill about 10% of the population annually in Ontario.

Effect of the loss of the Eastern Wolf:
All animals play important roles in their natural environments, but there are some that determine basic ecological process. The wolf is one, known among conservation scientists as a highly “interactive” species. As a top predator, the wolf regulates entire food chains, so both its presence and absence has cascading effects.

Research in the Great Lakes region shows that the browsing of plants, shrubs, and seedlings by deer is less intense in areas where wolves are present, giving vegetation a greater chance of survival and growth. And in Ontario and Québec, officials recognize the important role that wolves play in maintaining the diversity of both wildlife and vegetation.

Whose helping the Eastern Wolves?
The Eastern wolf has been designated by both the federal and Ontario governments as a species of Special Concern. Canada’s Species at Risk Act requires that the federal minister prepare a Management Plan for the Eastern wolf by May 2008 that includes measures for the conservation of the species and its habitat, in cooperation with each province and territory in which the species is found.

A Strategy for Wolf Conservation in Ontario was adopted in June 2005. It represents an initial step towards a conservation strategy for Ontario wolves. Unfortunately, it does not provide adequate protection, especially for the Eastern wolf, which continues to be hunted and trapped throughout most of its range.

It is CPAWS-OV’s (Canadian Parks & wilderness society - Ottawa Valley )position that the Ontario government should:
*Establish a permanent Wolf Advisory Committee immediately.
*Implement an immediate ban on killing of Gray and Eastern wolves in all provincial parks and conservation reserves.
*Implement an immediate ban on killing of Eastern wolves throughout their current and historical range (for example, in the Algonquin to Adirondacks region which is a potential recovery area for the species).
*Establish a comprehensive provincial Eastern Wolf conservation and recovery strategy.

Make a decision:
I think that the most effective thing to do is ban the killing of the eastern wolf in all the provinces, and i someonde do they have to pay a huge fine or something like that. And try to mate the species in placs that they will be safe, away from the civilization.