Category Archive: Invasive Species

Sep 06

Saving a Natural Water Filter: Mussels

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 …

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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. …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/lake-erie-algal-blooms/

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