Most people love lakes. They make use of them for water activities such as fishing, boating, swimming and diving. However many people take these lakes for granted and don't know they could be hurting an ecosystem. Exotic plants and animals hurt ecosystems greatly. This is why people should know what exotics are and how and why to prevent them.
 A lake is a precious ecosystem. Many plants and animals live in this ecosystem and depend each other to survive For example a part of a plant is eaten by a small organism and the organism is eaten by a small fish. The small fish is then devoured by a larger fish. If you took out one of any one of those plants or animals it would throw off the whole cycle and that is exactly what happens when an exotic plant or animal is introduced to the ecosystem.
An exotic is a plant or animal is foreign to an ecosystem, and when introduced throws off the ecosystem's stability. This can happen by the exotic taking over and killing all the other plants or animals. In plants the exotic usually chokes out all other plants. In animals the exotic usually is more competitive than the other animals and they are eliminated.
The ruffe is a cool water fish from northern Europe. It has dominated many different lakes and streams and is a quick killer.
It is a very fierce competitor for food and shelter. As the ruffe population increases, many other species will decrease. |
The spiny water flea is a zooplankton that is also called B.C. B.C. is very small but savagely competes with small fish for food. They are about half an inch long and look like globs of jelly with black spots.
Eurasian water milfoil is an exotic plant with long flexible stems and feather-like leaves attached in whorls of four. It is a very fast growing plant that chokes out native plants. It grows in thick mats ruining lakes for fishing, swimming and boating.
Prevention of exotics is very important. There are a few things you can do to prevent the spread of these exotics and other exotics I might not have mentioned. One major prevention technique would be to make sure, before going to a new lake or stream, to check your boat to make sure it has no plants or animals on or in it and drain all water from the live wells, wash and dry the boat and drain all other wells. |
Another method would be to report any sitings or encounters of any exotic to the proper authorities such as the D.N.R.
In the long run, if prevention of exotic plants and animals is monitored closely, our lakes will retain their normal state. It is a rough battle and as of the moment some lakes are losing, however if knowledge is passed on about exotics and their dangers and people pay more attention to this very serious problem the lakes will again triumph and won't be threatened. These exotics are but a few of the many troublesome exotics in Minnesota. Minnesotans deserve clean lakes and a healthy ecosystem, Many people take advantage of them and don't stop to think that they could be could be ruining the lake for use in future years. Let's all help protect what valuable recourses we have.
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