Zequanox is a bacteria, bred from the Pseudomonas fluorescens species, which can be found naturally protecting certain plants from breeds of parasitic fungi and nematodes. It has been selected by a team from the New York State Museum which has spent two decades researching a potential bacterial remedy to the zebra mussel invasion- a plague that has already infested over fifty of our state's lakes. The mussels, introduced through the Great Lakes in the 1980s, displace native species, cling to boats and docks, and even clog pipes, and as yet remain difficult to stop. A trial run being carried out on mussels at Lake Carlos with the help of the Minnesta DNR and US Geological Survey may change that, however.
The bacteria is not being introduced into the lake itself- instead, the mussels are being gathered and bathed in water that contains the bacteria for twelve hours, to measure their effectiveness against the mussels. In the words of USGS fisheries biologist Jim Luoma "What we're trying to do with this trailer is to mimic a treatment like it would be in a lake without actually applying the product to the lake." Previous tests have seen casualty rates of over 90%, with most deaths occurring within ten days of treatment.
Zebra mussels can clog pipes and engines
Denise Mayer, one of the researchers on the project, stresses that zequanox is not likely to be used on whole lakes- rather, the likely approach "is to use it as a tool to prevent infestations very early on if you find a localized infestation around a boat launch or marina or a dock,"and in this way prevent the further infestation of the lake.
Lake Peppin and Wisconsin's Lake Shawano will also be test sites, after the Lake Carlos trial is complete.
Image Sources: National Atlas and Invasion of the Zebra Mussels
also a good way to breed bacteria resistant zebra mussels....
ReplyDeleteMaybe eventually, but better than nothing for now, right? Some will survive.. no reason not to do what we can...
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