Environmental Change Initiative
Asian Carp and eDNA
In 2009 a team of scientists from the University of Notre Dame and The Nature Conservancy discovered that two species of highly invasive Asian Carp were much closer to the Great Lakes than federal and state officials had realized. Those two species, bighead carp and silver carp, already have done extensive environmental damage to the Illinois River—and much of the Mississippi River—by completely altering the food web in sections of those two major watersheds. There has been enormous concern throughout the region that if Asian carp entered the Great Lakes they could severely impair the lakes’ $7 billion annual sport and commercial fishing industries.
The scientists located the Asian carp invasion front through a novel cutting-edge technique called “environmental DNA” or “eDNA.” From the summer of 2009 through May of 2010, scientists from Notre Dame and The Nature Conservancy collected and analyzed more than 1,000 two-liter water samples from the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, as well as other water bodies in the Chicago metropolitan area. Then, using a combination of high-tech genetic tools, they sifted those samples to find traces of eDNA from all sorts of species, including Asian carp.
In addition to showing that the invasive fish were much closer to the Great Lakes than people believed, the research showed that eDNA is superior to traditional methods for locating and monitoring aquatic species invasions. While so far the eDNA technology has only been used on alien species like Asian carp, Notre Dame’s scientists believe that the eDNA methodology has strong promise in endangered species detection and monitoring as well. The scientists’ work has now been expanded to a search for Asian carp eDNA throughout large swaths of the Great Lakes watershed.
For more information about the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative’s Asian carp work and eDNA, please see the “News” section of our website.
News
Research shows invasive species cost the Great Lakes millions
March 30, 2012 • Author: William Gilroy, ND Newswire • Categories: Asian Carp and eDNA
A new paper by researchers from the University of Notre Dame, the University of Wyoming and the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands assigns a dollar figure on the cost to the Great Lakes from invasive species that originate in the ballast water of ocean-going vessels.
David M. Lodge and John D. Rothlisberger of Notre Dame, David C. Finnoff of Wyoming, and Roger M. Cooke of Delft determined that the median estimate of damages is $138 million annually but could be more than $800 million annually.
Aquatic Invasive Species and The Great Lakes
March 09, 2012 • Author: The Nature Conservancy (Video) • Categories: Asian Carp and eDNA
A video from The Nature Conservancy features ECI Research Assistant Professor Chris Jerde and TNC's Great Lakes Invasive Species Director Lindsay Chadderton.
David Lodge attends White House Great Lakes event
March 01, 2012 • Author: William Gilroy, ND Newswire • Categories: Asian Carp and eDNA
David Lodge, Ludmilla F. and Stephen J. Galla Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame and a world-renowned expert on invasive species, was invited to attend a White House Community Leaders Briefing on the Great Lakes Region that took place today (Feb. 29) in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
