The entire ecosystem of Lake Michigan hangs on the fate of a microscopic phytoplankton, which just happens to be the favorite snack food for the quagga mussels that have invaded the lake’s waters. The disappearance of the phytoplankton would affect the entire food chain, collapsing the whole ecosystem.
An abundance of the phytoplankton was first discovered in 1998 by a group of biologists from Michigan Technical University. A large ring of phytoplankton would be spotted after large winter storms kicked up sediment containing nutrients. The sediments (and in turn, the phytoplankton) would then travel along the lake’s currents, creating a donut of sediment and phytoplankton. These phytoplankton would then become food for the entire lake; a simple food chain.
Biologists monitored this ring and in 2001 started to notice that it was thinning…in the exact places where the invasive mussels were feeding. Originally introduced by ocean-going ships dumping ballast water, the quagga mussel loves phytoplankton. In fact, they like them so much, they can actually consume them at a rate higher than phytoplankton can be produced.
The waste produced by the quagga mussel, and the absence of the phytoplankton has a devastating chain effect. Cladophora algae takes over and sucks the oxygen out of the surrounding water, zooplankton populations are diminished, leaving less food for the alewives, chubs, Atlantic salmon, walleyes, perch, etc. If the quagga mussels are not eradicated, a huge percentage of the fish population of Lake Michigan could disappear in a matter of only a few years.
Read more in the Christian Science Monitor.
