A Role for Early Detection and Eradication in the Laurentian Great Lakes
Ann Arbor, MI — The eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces have often worked together to care for their shared freshwater resources, managing fisheries under the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission and collaborating on basin-wide water use with the Great Lakes Compact.
Perhaps it is now time to work together on aquatic invasive species.
Writing in the current issue of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, Jake Vander Zanden and a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Center for Limnology, respond to a critique of their previous suggestion of an "early detection and eradication" program for invasive species.
In that critique, Horns (2011) cited several obstacles to adequately monitoring for new invaders and balked at the expense of eradication.
While it’s true that finding a newly arrived invasive species is akin to the proverbial "needle in a haystack," it’s important to point out that few people are actively looking for new invasives. In fact, most aquatic invasive species are discovered by chance. By the time they are discovered, they have typically already spread, thereby eliminating any chance of eradication.
This seems like a flawed system considering scientists know how most invasives get into the Great Lakes, where they’re most likely to colonize and even what types of exotics might be next in line to invade. It seems reasonable to suggest that we could harness this knowledge and combine it with ongoing research and monitoring efforts to improve our detection of new invasive species.
Finally, says lead author, Jake Vander Zanden, if we don’t improve and expand our early detection capabilities, "we’ll have no idea if current invasive species prevention efforts (like ballast regulations and electric barriers) are working."
Original Publication Information
This commentary, "Invasive Species Early Detection and Eradication: A Response to Horns (2011)," by Vander Zanden, M.J., Gretchen J.A. Han, Scott N. Higgins and Matthew S. Kornis appears in the latest issue (Volume 37, No. 3, pp. 595-596) of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by Elsevier, 2011. The initial paper was by Vander Zanden, M.J., Gretchen J.A. Han, Scott N. Higgins and Matthew S. Kornis, "A pound of prevention, plus a pound of cure: Early detection and eradication of invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes," (Volume 36, No 1, pp. 199-205) of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by Elsevier, 2010
Contacts
For more information about the study, contact M. Jake Vander Zanden, Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706; mjvanderzand@wisc.edu, (608) 262-9464.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; jglr@ec.gc.ca; (306) 975-5310.
Since 1967, IAGLR has served as the focal point for compiling and disseminating multidisciplinary knowledge on North America's Laurentian Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world and their watersheds. In part, IAGLR communicates this knowledge through publication of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, available to members in print and electronic form. A searchable archive of the journal is available online and includes the abstracts of articles from the journal's inception in 1975 through the most recent issue. In addition, complete articles are available to members who have signed up for an electronic subscription.