Suppressing zebra mussel populations

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), a two-shelled mollusk native to eastern Europe, cause significant ecological and economic damage to invaded ecosystems. While prevention is ideal, we need to develop effective control options for established populations to mitigate impacts and limit further spread. We know we can kill the zebra mussels... the question is, can we do it safely? To that end, the Phelps Lab has partnered with the US Geological Survey to evaluate and refine recommendations for the use of copper-based pesticides (i.e., EarthTec QZ) for large scale population suppression.

More information on zebra mussels can be found here.

Review of copper applications for lake management:

Copper-based pesticides can be highly effective tools for lake management and have been used in varying formulations for over a century to control algae, plants, and invertebrates. However, copper can have unintended consequences for non-target organisms, many of which are poorly understood. To better understand the current state of the science, we are conducting a systematic review that seeks to establish, through the available literature, how different copper-based lake management pesticides impact non-target aquatic organisms. To date, our review has identified 7,300+ articles for initial screening! Articles are currently being read for relevance against pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria with assistance from researchers and citizen scientists.

Open water dreissenid mussel control projects - lessons learned from a retrospective analysis:

As our knowledge about zebra mussel control practices continues to expand, lake managers are beginning to implement different strategies. We reviewed data from 33 past dreissenid mussel control projects in 23 lakes across North America and identified patterns and knowledge gaps to help inform adaptive management strategies. Results are in preparation and will be available to share soon!

Refining copper concentrations to control zebra mussels using the Biotic Ligand Model:

Copper is an essential micronutrient for plants and animals but at high concentrations is toxic to many aquatic organisms... Good for targeting invasive speices, bad for non-target native species. These tradeoffs must be carefully evaluated to ensure potential adverse non-target impacts do not outweigh the potential benefits of a management decision. One way to predict copper impacts to gilled aquatic organisms, such as zebra mussels, in different water chemistries is by using the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM). While the BLM has been used to set water quality standards, to the best of our knowledge, it has not been used to inform aquatic management practices. In this project, we demonstrate the potential application of the BLM to predict species-specific responses to different copper concentrations with the goal of learning how copper affects zebra mussel veligers and non-target organisms. By calculating a precise concentration of copper necessary to meet a management goal given site-specific water chemistry, we hope to predict, mitigate, and minimize unintended impacts and optimize management costs.