GLC Director Alexander Karatayev was quoted in an article in the Chicago Tribune, "Lake Michigan has become dramatically clearer in the last 20 years - but at a steep cost." The article discusses the effects that dreissenid mussels have had on water clarity and fishing in Lake Michigan.
"Scientists say the invasive mussels may have reached their limits. With less plankton, the concentration of mussels in Lake Michigan dropped 40 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to a yet-to-be published report by Buffalo State College’s Great Lakes Center. But the total weight of mussels in the lake has risen, suggesting the surviving mussels are growing larger, said Alexander Karatayev, the center’s director. It’s unclear what this might mean in the future. “However, it is extremely important to keep monitoring the (quagga mussel) population to understand if this decline is a long-term trend and if the population eventually will stabilize or will fluctuate substantially,” Karatayev said."
Read the full article.
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