Mussels have a bigger job than meets the eye. Listen up for the scoop on these clean water VIPs: They may not look like they’re up to much, but mussels actively filter contaminants along with their food, making them nature’s original water purifier. More than 300 types of mussels are native to North America. And …
Category Archive: Invasive Species
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/agricultural-runoff/saving-freshwater-mussels/
May 28
Hold the Salt, Please
Salting the roads to keep us safe during winter has long-lasting impacts on the environment. Listen up: Now that spring has arrived, salt-spreading plow trucks are a fading memory. But Todd Walter, director of the New York State Water Resources Institute, says salt that is washed off the roads stays in the soil for months. …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/stream-salinity-and-road-salt/
Feb 06
Nature’s Water Filter
Move over, Brita, mother nature has its own water filter. Explore the amazing mussel: Native mussels do some heavy lifting in a stream. “They feed on algae and plankton, and they help to purify that aquatic water system,” says Tamara Smith. That’s Tamara Smith of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She says mussels have …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/green-infrastructure/natures-water-filter/
Dec 18
Unity Island
A pond of dreams: Unity Island sits in the Niagara River in Buffalo, New York. At its northern tip is a manmade deep water pond. Ecologist Andrew Hannes is with the Army Corps of Engineers. He says the area does not support wildlife. But that’s about to change, thanks to a restoration project that will …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/development/unity-island/
Sep 12
Lake Erie’s Got the Algal Bloom Blues
This Great Lake has a problem that’s blooming out of control. Jam on this: Lake Erie touches upon Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Canada, and provides drinking water to more than 11 million people. But phosphorus from fertilizer and sewage has increased cyanobacteria in the lake. Often called blue-green algae, it can produce toxic …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/lake-erie-algal-blooms/