This project will monitor annual settlement rates on identical sampling devices spaced evenly around a lakeshore to learn how and why zebra mussel populations shift in density, abundance, and distribution within a lake during and after establishment.
Background:
At the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC), researchers frequently receive inquiries from lake residents regarding the factors influencing shifts in density, abundance, and distribution of zebra mussel populations within a lake, both during and after their establishment. Understanding these dynamics is challenging, but one potential step to gain insight involves monitoring annual settlement rates on uniformly spaced sampling devices along a lakeshore.
Lake association leaders from six lakes have collaborated with MAISRC for the second season of this pilot project. In 2021, three lakes participated, and an additional three joined in 2022. The pilot study aims to assess the feasibility of the research ideas, address any challenges, and determine if the concept could be applied to numerous lakes in the future.
Activities:
- Establish baseline zebra mussel reproductive pressure data at the lake level
- Develop protocols for a photo analysis method for sampler plate analysis that can be replicated at a large scale • Identify potential directions for future study
- Observe potential regional or statewide trends in water quality and climate in relation to variation in zebra mussel reproductive pressure
- Establish a data repository that is accessible to researchers where projects could benefit from this historical data set