Invasive
species:
coming soon to a lake near you
with
Hugh MacIsaac
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University
of Windsor
Canada has sustained dramatic damage resulting from the introduction
of invasive species such as the SARS virus, emerald ash boring
beetle, and infectious salmon anemia. Our lakes, too, are
especially vulnerable to new introductions – the waters
between southern Lake Huron and western Lake Erie being one
of the country’s invasion “hotspots.”
Hugh MacIsaac is looking at the many factors that bring unwanted
species into the Great Lakes, and from there to inland lakes,
where they pose a major threat to biodiversity. Of particular
interest to him are the encysted “resting” eggs
of invertebrates carried in ballast tanks of transoceanic
ships. The spiny waterflea, for example, invaded the Great
Lakes from the Baltic Sea in 1982, and is now spreading rapidly
to lakes in Ontario. By tracking the human role in dispersal,
researchers can predict which lakes are vulnerable to invasion,
and those that will serve as reservoirs for future invasions.
Hugh MacIsaac is a professor in the Great Lakes Institute
for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, and holds
the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Invasion Biology Research
Chair. He has published extensively on invasive species and
speaks regularly on this topic at national and international
scientific meetings.
Simultaneous translation will be provided.
Co-Sponsors:
--the Speaker of the Senate, the Hon. Daniel Hays
--the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Hon. Peter Milliken
--Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE)
--NSERC
DATE: Thursday, May 13, 2004 from 7:30 am - 9:00 am
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