Restoration Ecology

Restoration Ecology has to do with restoring damaged ecosystems to a healthy state.  This blog will discuss how invasive species tie in with Restoration Ecology.  The major issue with invasive species is that they tend to be overly successful due to a lack of natural predators.  The most successful invasive species are those that adapt well, or those that manage to wipe out the competition.  Arguably the largest threat to the Great Lakes, both in terms of actual size and potential threat is the Asian carp.  This fish when fully grown will have few if any naturally occurring predators in the Great Lakes.  The only shred of good news is that certain native fish prey on a fish called shad which apparently looks similar to Asian carp less than a year in age.  (www.mlive.com)  So, the Asian carp will at least have some check on their explosive growth.  (Asian Carp breed in vast numbers, allowing explosive population growth)  While there is no check on the adult population, the juveniles and eggs can be kept in check by maintaining a high population of predatory native fish.  (which will be encouraged by a new food source)  So Asian carp could in fact be kept in check in the great lakes.  While its not exactly restoration of the natural ecosystem, its better than a total collapse.

While the Asian carp threat has some hope, another looming threat may prove to be as bad if not worse than Asian carp.  Zebra mussels may not have the size of Asian carp, but they make up for it by reproducing faster in large numbers and choking out all other competition consuming the lowest level of the food chain.  According to fi.biology.usgs.gov, the zebra mussels do in fact have a few predators, but a few species of fish and some ducks are not going to make a significant impact on the population of zebra mussels given their sheer numbers and reproductive rates.  This species will probably require human intervention to prevent it from taking over our lakes.

Sources:

http://www.mlive.com/opinion/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/01/we_can_beat_asian_carp_threat.html

http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Nonindigenous_Species/Zebra_mussel_FAQs/zebra_mussel_faqs.html